ATLANTA  UNIVERSITY  PUBLICATIONS, 
No.  2. 


SOCIAL  AND  PHYSICAL  CONDITION 
OF  NEGROES  IN  CITIES. 


REPORT  OF  AN  INVESTIGATION  UNDER  THE 
DIRECTION  OF  ATLANTA  UNIVERSITY: 


AND 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SECOND  CONFERENCE  FOR  THE 
STUDY  OF  PROBLEMS  CONCERNING  NEGRO  CITY  LIFE, 

HELD  AT 

ATLANTA  UNIVERSITY,  MAY  25-26,  1897. 


ATLANTA,  GA. 
ATLANTA   UNIVERSITY  PRESS. 

1897. 


> 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION  ; 

I.  RESULTS  OF  THE   INVESTIGATION. 

GENERAL  SUMMARY;  -  Butler  R.  Wilson.  Esq. 

SOCIAL  AND  PHYSICAL  PROGRESS:  A  COMPARATIVE  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  RE- 
PORTSOFTHE  BOARDS  OF  HEALTH  IN  ATLANTA,  BALTIMORE,  CHARLESTON, 

MEMPHIS  AND  RICHMOND;  -  -  -  Mr.  L.  M.  Hershaw  10 

THE  PHYSICAL  CONDITION  OF  THE  RACE:  WHETHER  DEPENDENT  UPON 

SOCIAL  CONDITIONS  OR  ENVIRONMENT;  -  Prof.  Eugene  Harris  20 

II.  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  CONFERENCE. 

MINUTES;  29 

RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  BY  THE  CONFERENCE;  32 

III.  ADDRESSES.  PAPERS,  AND   LETTERS. 

ADDRESS  ;                                                 -     President   Horace   Bumstead  35 

PRENATAL  AND  HEREDITARY  INFLUENCES;     -     Mrs.  Adella  Hunt  Logan  37 

CARE  OF  NEGLECTED  CHILDREN;                                    Rev.  J.   E.  Smith  41 

THE  NEED  OF  FRIENDLY  VISITATION;                           Rev.  H.  H.  Proctor  44 
CAUSES  OF  CONSUMPTION,    AND  PRACTICAL  METHODS  OF  PREVENTING  IT; 

A.  J.   Love.    M.  D.  46 

VENTILATION;                                                            •    H.  R.  Butler,  M.  D.  51 

CARE  OF  THE  TEETH  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  HEALTH:  J.  R.  Porter.  D.D.S.  53 

ADDRESS  BEFORE  WOMEN'S  MEETING;                        Miss  Lucy  C.  Laney  55 

FRIENDLY  VISITING;    -                                         Mrs.  Minnie  Wright  Price  58 

MOTHERS'  MEETINGS;                                           Mrs.  Georgia  Swift   King  61 

NEED  OF  DAY  NURSERIES;                                   Mrs.  Selena  Sloan  Butler  63 

NEED  OF  KINDERGARTENS;                                Mrs.   Rosa  Morehead  Bass  66 

REPORTS  FROM  CITIES;                                                                                  -  69 

EXTRACTS  FROM  LETTERS;  7 1 

IV.  APPENDIX;  SELECTED  STATISTICS. 

A.  FROM  HOUSE-TO- HOUSE  INVESTIGATION;     -  (1) 

B.  FROM  ANALYSIS  OF  REPORTS   OF  BOARDS  OF  HEALTH;                -     -  (11) 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  papers  presented  in  this  report  were  written  exclusively  by  col 
ored  men  and  women,  and  are  based  upon  statistical  investigations  made 
by  them  under  the  direction  of  Atlanta  University. 

The  investigation  was  begun  by  an  inquiry  on  the  part  of  three  grad 
uates  of  Atlanta  University  into  the  causes  of  the  excessive  mortality 
among  Negroes.  A  conference  \vas  held  on  the  subject  at  Atlanta  Uni 
versity  in  May,  1896,  and  the  facts  brought  out  at  that  conference 
were  so  significant  that  the  investigation  was  continued  for  another 
year  along  similar  lines,  but  on  a  more  extensive  scale,  and  a  second 
conference  was  held  in  May,  this  year.  The  co-operation  of  gradu 
ates  of  other  institutions  was  invited.  The  present  investigation, 
therefore,  is  the  result  of  the  joint  efforts  of  graduates  of  Atlanta  Uni 
versity,  Fisk,  Berea,  Lincoln,  Spelman,  Howard,  Meharry  and  other 
institutions  for  the  higher  education  of  the  Negroes. 

The  conclusions  \\hich  these  men  and  women  have  reached  as  a  result  of 
their  investigations  are,  in  some  respects,  most  surprising;  especially  their 
conclusions  as  to  the  effect  of  environment  and  economic  conditions 
upon  the  vital  energies  of  the  race.  Their  conclusions  were,  in  sub 
stance,  that  the  excessive  mortality  of  their  people  cannot  be  attribu 
ted  in  any  large  degree  to  unfavorable  conditions  of  environment,  but 
must  be  chit  fly  attributed  to  the  ignorance  of  the  masses  of  the  people  and 
their  disregard  of  the  laws  of  health  and  morality.  The  significance  of  this 
conclusion  is  tersely  expressed  by  one  of  the  writers,  who  says : 

"This  last  fact,  that  the  excessive  death-rate  of  the  colored  people 
does  notarise  from  diseases  due  to  environment,  is  of  vast  importance. 
If  poor  houses,  unhealthy  localities,  bad  sewerage,  and  defective 
plumbing  were  responsible  for  their  high  death-rate,  there  would  be 
no  hope  of  reducing  the  death-rate  until  either  the  colored  people 


4  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFE. 

became  wealthy,  or  philanthropic  persons  erected  sanitary  houses,  or  mu 
nicipalities  made  appropriations  to  remove  those  conditions.  But  since 
the  excessive  death-rate  is  not  due  to  these  causes,  there  is  reason 
for  the  belief  that  it  may  be  reduced  without  regard  to  the  present 
economic  condition  of  the  colored  people." 

The  attention  of  the  members  of  the  conference  seemed  to  be  mainly 
directed  to  a  consideration  of  the  social  questions  affecting  the  prog 
ress  of  the  race.  The  sentiment  of  the  conference  was  voiced  by  one 
writer  in  these  words  : 

"If  we  are  to  strike  at  the  root  of  the  matter,  it  will  not  be  at  sani 
tary  regulation,  but  at  social  reconstruction  and  moral  regeneration." 

The  solution  of  the  problem  will  be  found  in  the  wise  direction  of 
the  numerous  charitable,  religious  and  educational  organizations  of 
colored  people  already  established.  As  a  means  towards  that  end,  the 
University  will  continue  the  City  Problem  Investigation  along  the  lines 
upon  which  it  was  begun,  and  will  hold  a  third  conference  at  Atlanta 
next  May.  The  subject  of  the  next  conference  cannot  now  be  an 
nounced,  but  in  accordance  with  the  expressed  wish  of  members  of 
the  last  conference,  it  will  be  some  subject  dealing  with  the  social 
conditions  of  the  people. 

The  result  of  the  present  investigation  has  been,  on  the  whole,  dis 
tinctly  encouraging.  In  the  opinion  of  the  committee  having  the  in 
vestigation  in  charge,  the  Negro  has  nothing  to  fear  from  a  most  rigid 
and  searching  investigation  into  his  physical  and  social  condition,  but 
such  an  investigation  can  be  made  most  helpful  and  valuable. 


MORTALITY    AMONG    NEGRO  KK    IN    CITIES. 


RESULTS  OF  THE  INVESTIGATION. 


[Note:  The  three  following  papers  on  the  results  of  the  investigation  were  written 
by  the  three  members  of  the  conference  who  individual!}"  collected  the  most  data: 
Mr.  Butler  R.  Wilson,  a  member  of  the  committee  who  gathered  data  relating 
to  one  hundred  families  that  had  migrated  from  North  Carolina  to  Cambridge,  Mass.; 
Prof.  Eugene  Harris  of  Fisk  University,  who  made  an  extensive  investigation  in 
Nashville;  and  Mr.  L.  M.  Hershaw  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  who  had  in  charge  the  very 
laborious  work  of  analyzing  the  reports  of  the  boards  of  health  for  the  past  fifteen 
years.-Ed.] 

GENERAL  SUMMARY. 

BY    MR.  BUTTER    R.    WILSON    ('81),    BOSTON,    MASS. 


In  making  this  investigation  of  the  habits,  morals  and  environment 
of  Negroes  living  in  cities,  three  things  have  been  kept  constantly  in 
view,  viz.: 

First—  To  obtain  accurate  information  without  regard  to  cher 
ished  theories  or  race  pride; 

Second- To  make  the  inquiry  practical  and  helpful,  and  not  merely 
for  scientific  results;  and, 

Third-  To  induce  the  people  to  apply  the  remedies  which  they 
have  in  their  own  hands  for  the  evils  which  are  found  to  exist 
and  which  retard  their  progress. 

The  results  to  be  gained  depended  entirely  upon  the  intelligence  and 
fitness  of  the  investigators,  who  were  selected  with  great  care  from  the 
ranks  of  well-known  colored  educators,  ministers,  physicians,  lawyers 
and  business  men,  living  among  the  people  covered  by  the  investigation. 
All  the  data  were  gathered  by  this  body  of  trained  colored  leaders,  and 
they  are  believed  to  be,  perhaps,  more  than  usually  accurate  because  of 
the  investigators'  knowledge  of  the  character,  habits  and  prejudices  of 
the  people,  and  because  of  the  fact  that  they  were  not  hindered  by  the 
suspicions  which  confront  the  white  investigator,  and  which  seriously 
affect  the  accuracy  of  the  answers  to  his  questions. 

The  work  of  the  investigators  was  entirely  voluntary  and  was  done 
with  a  willingness  and  industry  highly  gratifying. 


STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFE. 

The  cities  embraced  in  the  investigation,  with  a  single  exception,  are 
located  in  regions  of  heaviest  Negro  population,  and  are  fairly  repre 
sentative  of  other  cities  containing  large  numbers  of  Negroes. 

The  data  obtained  were  published  in  the  May  Bulletin  of  the  U.S. 
Department  of  Labor,  and  cover  so  wide  a  range  of  useful  information, 
that  only  a  few  things  can  be  pointed  out  here. 

Referring  to  the  tables  of  this  Bulletin,  we  find  one  noticeable  fact 
hrtable  3*,  namely,  that  the  size  of  colored  families  is  much  smaller 
than  is  commonly  supposed,  the  average  being  4.  17  persons. 

Tables  5  and  (),  giving  household  conditions  by  families, — the  av 
erage  persons  per  sleeping  room,  and  the  number  of  rooms  per  fam 
ily, — show  that  the  general  belief  that  the  tenements  and  houses  occu 
pied  by  colored  people  are  greatly  over-crowded  is  not  founded  on 
facts.  These  tables  do  not  show  that  any  great  over-crowding  exists, 
on  the  whole,  although  for  certain  individual  families  and  groups  the 
averages  are  somewhat  larger.  It  also  appears  that  the  average  num 
ber  of  living  rooms  is  much  larger  than  has  been  thought  to  be  the 
case.  An  average  of  2.  22  persons  to  a  sleeping  room  in  Atlanta,  2.44 
persons  in  Nashville,  and  1.  9(>  persons  in  Cambridge,  and  2.  Go  per 
sons  in  all  the  other  cities  covered  by  the  investigation,  is  an  unex 
pected  and  important  showing,  and  reverses  the  idea  that  the  number 
of  families  having  but  one  room  each  for  all  purposes  was  very  large 
and  was  the  rule  instead  of  the  exception.  Out  of  a  total  of  1,137 
families  investigated,  only  117,  or  10.  29  per  cent,  had  but  one  room 
each  for  their  use  for  all  purposes.- 

Table  7,  giving  number  of  families  and  means  of  support,  shows  a 
large  proportion  of  females  who  either  support  families  unaided,  or 
who  contribute  to  the  support  of  families. 

Of  the  male  heads  only  26.7  per  cent  were  able  to  support  their  fam 
ilies  without  assistance  from  other  members.  Of  the  1,137  families 
65G,  or  57.17  percent,  were  supported  wholly  or  in  part  by  female 
heads. 

Tn  comparison  with  white  female  heads  of  families  and  those  con 
tributing  to  family  support,  there  is  quite  a  large  excess  on  the  part  of 
colored  women. 

*Table  3  in  appendix  A.     The  appendixes  contain  selected   tables  from   the   May 
Bulletin  of  the  Department  of  Labor. -Ed, 


MORTALITY    AMONG    NEGROES    IN    C'lTIKS.  i 

This  table  calls  attention  to  the  enforced  absence  of  mothers  from 
their  homes,  and  the  daily  abandonment,  by  these  mothers  who  are 
compelled  to  aid  in  earning  the  family  support,  of  their  young  chil 
dren  to  the  evil  associations,  the  temptations,  and  vicious  liberty  of 
the  alleys,  courts  and  slums. 

To  attempt  to  prove  from  the  showing  of  this  table  that  ^segro 
men  are  unwilling  to  support  their  families,  and  that  they  are  lazy  and 
shiftless,  would  be  unfair.  Careful  inquiry  by  a  number  of  the  investiga 
tors  indicates  very  strongly  that  the  comparatively  small  support 
given  by  these  men  to  their  families  is  not  due  to  unwillingness,  but  to 
their  inability  to  get  work  as  readily  and  constantly  as  the  women. 
At  the  South  white  men  refuse  to  work  at  the  bench,  in  the  mill  and 
at  other  employments  with  colored  men,  who,  for  this  reason,  are  de 
nied  work,  and  therefore  unable  to  earn  means  with  which  to  support 
their  families. 

This  fact  was  found  to  exist  in  the  city  of  Cambridge,  where  a  large 
per  cent  of  the  men  in  the  hundred  families  investigated,  in  reply  to 
an  inquiry,  said  that  they  had  been  refused  work  because  they  were 
colored,  and  a  number  of  them  said  that  they  were  unable  to  follow 
their  trades,  but  had  to  "job  around"  with  unsteady  employment  for 
the  same  reason. 

The  women  in  these  families  find  steady  employment  as  domestic 
servants  and  laundresses,  and  at  the  South  find  but  little  competition 
from  white  women. 

The  investigation  gives  a  great  many  data  on  this  industrial  side  of 
the  question,  which  want  of  space  will  not  now  allow  us  to  consider. 

Tables  8  and  9,  giving  the  number  and  per  cent  of  persons  sick 
during  the  year,  and  the  number  and  per  cent  of  deaths  during  the 
past  five  years  by  causes,  show  that  the  diseases  most  fatal  to  the  col 
ored  people  are  consumption  and  pneumonia.  While  the  average 
length  of  time  of  sickness  from  it  is  short,  malarial  fever  is  shown  to 
be  one  of  the  most  prevalent  diseases.  Rheumatism  is  also  shown  to 
be  quite  prevalent.  Both  of  these  diseases,  as  well  as  typhoid  fever 
and  pneumonia,  may,  to  a  great  extent,  be  kept  in  abeyance  by  the 
observance  of  hygienic  rules  and  a  proper  care  of  the  health. 

In  the  100  Cambridge  families  it  was  found  that  many  of  the  men 
work  in  the  water  department,  and  after  the  day's  work  eat  the 


8  STUDY'    OF    XEGRO    CITY    LIFE. 

evening  meal  without  changing  their  damp  clothing,  often  going  to 
sleep  in  their  chairs  tor  an  hour  or  more  and  then  going  to  a  lodge  or 
"society  meeting,"  remaining  not  infrequently  until  11  and  12  o'clock. 

These  tables  also  show  that  the  difference  between  the  death-rate  of 
the  white  and  colored  people  from  diarrhea,  diptheria,  scarlet  fever, 
malarial  fever  and  typhoid  fever,  all  diseases  chiefly  affected  by  envi 
ronment,  is  very  slight.* 

Table  10,  giving  sickness  by  sanitary  condition  of  houses,  shows 
that  while  sanitary  conditions  have  a  very  important  bearing,  they  are 
not  important  enough  to  account  for  the  difference  of  per  cent  in  the 
death-rate  between  the  white  and  colored  people. 

Great  caution  must  be  observed  in  making  deductions  from  this 
table.  While  it  is  intended  to  show  the  bearing  of  sanitary  conditions 
on  the  health  of  the  community,  the  results  obtained  are  not  conclu 
sive.  It  would  be  erroneous,  for  instance,  to  attribute  to  bad  sanitary 
conditions  the  increased  amount  of  sickness  in  families,  and  leave  out 
of  consideration  such  factors  as  irregular  habits,  indifference  to  healthy 
living  quarters  and  the  intimate  relation  between  poverty  and  ill 
health. 

By  reference  to  the  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  number  of  persons 
sick  in  Atlanta  was  163  out  of  a  total  of  577,  or  28.25  per  cent, 
where  the  light  and  air  were  good  ;  and  that  out  of  367  persons  liv 
ing  where  the  light  and  air  were  bad.  120,  or  32.70  per  cent,  were 
sick,  a  difference  of  only  15  per  cent  between  houses  with  good  and 
bad  conditions  as  to  light  and  air. 

One  hundred  and  twenty-eight  persons  living  in  houses  with  good 
light  and  air  lost  5,819  days  by  sickness,  or  an  average  of  45.46  days 
each;  while  102,  or  26  persons  less,  lost,  under  bad  conditions  of  light 
and  air,  only  4,361  days,  or  an  average  of  42.75  days  each,  a  difference 
of  6  per  cent,  the  average  days  of  sickness  being  more  in  houses  with 
good  light  and  air  than  in  those  where  the  light  and  air  were  bad. 

This  table  further  shows  that  out  of  537  persons  living  in  Atlanta 
in  houses  with  good  ventilation,  153,  or  28.49  per  cent,  were  sick 
during  the  year,  losing,  for  the  124  reporting,  5,927  days,  or  an  aver 
age  of  47.80  days  each  ;  while  out  of  427  persons  living  in  houses  with 

*The  tables  bearing  upon  diseases  most  prevalent  will  be  particularly  discussed 
in  the  paper  following.   -ED. 


MORTALITY    AMONG    NEGRO  KS    IN    CITIES.  if 

bad  ventilation,  154,  or  36  per  cent,  were  sick  during  the  year,  133 
of  whom  lost  6,050  days,  or  an  average  of  45.49  days  each,  a  difference 
of  only  26  per  cent  between  the  per  cent  of  persons  sick  where  ven 
tilation  was  good  and  where  it  was  bad,  the  average  number  of  days 
again  being  greater  for  those  under  good  conditions  than  for  those 
under  bad. 

Table  XV,*  giving  general  description  of  houses,  shows  tluit  a 
large  proportion  of  the  houses  occupied  by  the  1,137  families  were 
wooden  structures,  detached  and  located  in  neighborhoods  of  fair 
character.  Of  the  1,031  houses  but  43  had  bath-rooms,  and  183  had 
water-closets,  95  of  which  were  in  the  Cambridge  houses.  In  Atlanta 
and  Cambridge  the  houses  with  bad  outside  sanitary  conditions  pre 
dominated.  In  all  the  other  cities  the  houses  with  good  outside  san 
itary  conditions  predominated,  the  latter  being  greatly  in  excess  for 
the  entire  territory  covered. 

This  paper  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

First — All  the  data  in  the  investigation  have  been  gathered  by  in 
telligent  colored  men  and  women  living  in  the  communities  covered. 
These  investigators  were  not  hindered  by  obstacles  which  make  it 
difficult  for  a  white  man  to  get  accurate  information  of  the  family  life, 
habits  and  character  of  the  colored  people.  These  colored  investigat 
ors  cannot  be  charged  with  prejudice  and  designs  against  the  interests 
of  the  colored  people.  For  these  reasons,  their  work  is  thought  to  be 
more  than  usually  accurate  and  reliable. 

Second — Over-crowding  in  tenements  and  houses  occupied  by  col 
ored  people  does  not  exist  to  any  great  extent,  and  is  less  than  was 
supposed. 

Third — In  comparison  with  white  women,  an  excess  of  colored 
women  support  their  families  entirely,  or  contribute  to  the  family  sup 
port,  by  occupations  which  take  them  much  of  their  time  from  home, 
to  the  neglect  of  their  children. 

Fourth — Environment  and  the  sanitary  condition  of  houses  are  not 
chiefly  responsible  for  the  excessive  mortality  among  colored  people. 

Fifth — Ignorance  and  disregard  of  the  laws  of  health  are  responsi 
ble  for  a  large  proportion  of  this  excessive  mortality. 

*Not  in  appendix,  hut  in  May  Bulletin  of  Department  of  Labor.-  Ki>, 


10  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFE. 


SOCIAL  AND  PHYSICAL  PROGRESS: 

A  COMPARATIVE   ANALYSIS   OF  THE   REPORTS   OF  THE  BOARDS  OF 

HEALTH  OF  ATLANTA,  BALTIMORE,  CHARLESTON, 

MEMPHIS  AND  RICHMOND. 

BY    MK.    L.     M.    HERSHAW    ('86),    WASHINGTON,    1).    C. 


The  study  of  vital  statistics  is  one  of  the  most  important  subjects  that 
can  engage  the  attention.  The  death-rate,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
birth-rate,  determines  the  natural  increase  or  decrease  of  population, 
the  growth  or  decline  of  a  people,  and  the  strength  of  nations.  Dr. 
William  Farr,  late  Registrar-General  of  Births,  Deaths  and  Marriages 
in  England,  states  the  whole  matter  in  the  following  language  :  "There 
is  a  relation  betwixt  death,  health,  and  energy  of  body  and  mind. 
There  is  a  relation  betwixt  death,  birth  and  marriage.  There  is  a  re 
lation  betwixt  death  and  national  primacy ;  numbers  turn  the  tide 
in  the  struggle  of  population,  and  the  most  mortal  die  out.  There  is 
a  relation  betwixt  the  forms  of  death  and  moral  excellence  or  infamy." 
It  has  been  known  for  a  number  of  years  to  health  officers  and 
students  of  vital  statistics  that  the  death-rate  of  the  colored  people 
was  larger  than  that  of  the  white  people  ;  that  the  colored  people  were 
dying  in  larger  numbers  in  proportion  to  the  colored  population  than 
the  white  people  were  in  proportion  to  the  white  population.  Of  late 
years  these  facts  have  become  known  to  most  intelligent  persons,  and 
great  interest  attaches  to  the  degree  of  the  excess  of  the  colored  death- 
rate,  and  to  the  causes  of  it. 

This  paper  will  deal  with  the  vital  statistics  of  the  cities  of  Atlanta, 
Ga.,  Baltimore,  Md.,  Charleston,  S.  C., Memphis,  Tenn.,  and  Richmond, 
Va.  Each  of  these  cities  contains  a  large  colored  population,  sur 
rounded  by  social,  economic  and  moral  conditions  such  as  exist  in 
other  cities  where  colored  people  are  congregated  in  considerable  num 
bers,  if  Philadelphia  is  excepted.  The  cities  selected  are,  therefore, 
thoroughly  representative  for  the  purpose  in  hand,  and  the  conditions 


MORTALITY    AMO.NG    NEGROES    IN    CITIES.  11 

found  to  prevail  in  them  may  be  fairly  presumed  to  prevail  in  the 
other  cities  having  a  large  population  of  colored  people. 

The  average  annual  death-rate  per  1,000  of  the  living  population 
in  these  five  cities  for  the  fifteen  years  from  1881  to  1895  was  20.74 
for  the  whites  and  36.13  for  the  colored,  showing  a  percentage  of  ex 
cess  for  the  colored  of  73.8. 

The  average  annual  death-rate  per  1,000  by  race  for  each  of  the  five 
cities  under  consideration  for  the  past  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  is  as 
follows : 

White.  Colored.         Per  cent  excess 

of  colored, 

Atlanta  (1882-95) 18.50 34.71 87.6 

Baltimore  (1880-94) 20.69 32.71 58.1 

Charleston   (1881-94)., 23.19 44.08 90 

Memphis  (1882-95) 20.58 31.15 51.3 

Richmond  (1881-95) 20.73 38.02 83.4 

Aii  inspection  of  the  table  just  given  shows  that  the  highest  death* 
rate  among  the  colored  is  in  Charleston  (which  is  also  true  as  to  the 
whites),  and  that  the  lowest  death-rate  among  the  colored  is  in  Mem 
phis,  the  lowest  among  the  whites  being  in  Atlanta,  Comparing  the 
white  and  colored  death-rates,  it  is  to  be  seen  that  the  greatest  excess 
of  colored  over  white  is  in  Charleston,  where  it  reaches  90  per  cent; 
the  excess  in  Atlanta  being  87.6  per  cent,  and  that  in  Richmond  83.4 
per  cent.  The  least  excess  is  found  in  Memphis,  which  is  51.3  per 
cent,  Baltimore  having  58.1  per  cent.  These  figures  seem  to  justify 
the  conclusion  that  the  worst  physical  conditions  among  the  colored 
people  are  to  be  found  in  Charleston,  Atlanta  and  Richmond,  and  the 
best  in  Memphis  and  Baltimore. 

Having  found  the  average  death-rates  of  the  two  races  in  these  five 
cities  for  the  past  fourteen  or  fifteen  years,  and  having  compared  them 
with  each  other,  and  drawn  a  conclusion  as  to  the  relative  physical  con 
ditions  of  the  colored  populations  in  the  cities  under  consideration,  it 
will  conduce  to  a  better  understanding  and  a  fuller  knowledge  of  these 
conditions  to  divide  the  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  which  this  investiga 
tion  covers  into  three  periods  as  nearly  equal  as  possible.  By  pursu 
ing  this  method  we  shall  be  able,  in  a  measure,  to  decide  whether  the 
physical  condition  of  the  colored  is  better  or  worse  in  1894  or  1895 
than  in  1880  or  1881. 


STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFE 


FIRST  PERIOD. 

SECOND  PERIOD. 

THIRD  PERIOD. 

Col 

Per    cent 

Col 

Per    cent 

Col 

Per    ceflt 

Cm  KB. 

White. 

ored. 

excess  of 

White. 

ored. 

excess  of 

White. 

ored. 

excess  of 

colored. 

colored. 

colored. 

Atlanta  

IS.  22 

37.96 

108.4 

19.25 

33.41 

73.5 

18.03 

32.76 

81,6 

Haiti  more  1  22.00 

36.15 

59.9 

1  19.46 

30.52 

56.8 

20.01 

31.47 

57.2 

Charleston  ... 

25.40    44.08 

73.5 

22.30 

46.74 

109.6 

21.88 

41.43 

89.3 

.Memphis  

26.08  i  43.01 

64.9 

21.49     29.35 

36.5 

14.17     21.11 

48.9 

Richmond....    22.42    40.34 

79.9 

21.37 

38,83 

81.7 

18.42 

34.91 

89.5 

The  tabular  statement  contains,  in  addition  to  the  average  annual 
death-rate,  the  percentage  of  the  excess  of  the  colored  death-rate. 
Lest  these  percentages  of  excess  mislead  somebody,  it  is  necessary  to 
explain  that,  in  comparing  the  three  periods,  they  merely  show  whether 
or  not  the  colored  death-rate  has  decreased  as  rapidly  as  the  white 
death-rate,  and  not  the  actual  increase  or  decrease  of  the  colored  death- 
rate.  To  illustrate:  Comparing  the  second  and  third  periods  in  Rich 
mond,  it  is  to  be  seen  that  the  percentage  of  excess  for  the  second 
period  is  81.7  per  cent,  and  for  the  third  period  89.5  per  cent.  With 
out  looking  at  the  matter  carefully  the  conclusion  is  likely  to  be  drawn 
that  the  colored  death-rate  is  greater  for  the  third  period  than  for  the 
second,  when,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  less,  the  rates  being  38.83*  for 
the  second,  and  34.91  for  the  third. 

An  inspection  of  the  above  table  shows  that  there  has  been  a  con 
stant  decrease  in  the  colored  death-rate  from  period  to  period  in  At 
lanta,  Memphis  and  Richmond. 

In  Atlanta  the  colored  death-rate  for  the  first  period  is  37.96,  for  the 
second  33.41,  and  for  the  third  32.7(5 ;  in  Memphis,  43.01  for  the  first 
period,  '29.35  for  the  second,  and  21.11  for  the  third;  and  in  Rich 
mond,  40.34  for  the  first  period,  38.83  for  the  second,  and  34.91  for 
the  third.  While  Baltimore  and  Charleston  do  not  show  the  constant 
decrease  from  period  to  period  noted  in  the  other  cities,  they  do  show 
a  lower  death-rate  for  the  third  period  than  for  the  first;  the  death-rates 


*NOTE. — The  death-rate  is  generally  expressed  in  terms  of  one  thousand.  The 
phrase  "rate  of  38.83"  means  that  there  were  thirty-eight  and  eighty -three  one-  hun- 
dredths  deaths  per  thousand  of  population.  For  brevity,  the  words  "per  thousand" 
are  omitted. —  Ki>, 


MORTALITY    AMONG    NEGKOK8    IN    ClTlKfS.  1  .*> 

in  Baltimore  being  36.15  for  the  first  period,  30.52  for  the  second,  and 
31.47  for  the  third  ;  and  those  in  Charleston,  44.08  for  the  first  period, 
46.74  for  the  second,  and  41.43  for  the  third.  Memphis  shows  the 
greatest  improvement,  the  average  death-rate  at  the  end  of  the  third 
period  being  50.  9  per  cent  lower  than  at  the  end  of  the  first,  and 
Charleston  shows  the  least  improvement,  6  per  cent.  In  Atlanta  the 
improvement  is  13.9  per  cent,  in  Richmond,  13.4  per  cent,  and  in 
Baltimore,  12.9  per  cent. 

Of  the  five  cities  with  which  this  paper  deals,  but  two  have  a  regis 
tration  of  births— Baltimore  and  Charleston.*  Richmond  had  such  a. 
registration,  but  it  was  discontinued  some  years  ago.  The  registra 
tions  of  Baltimore  and  Charleston  are  admittedly  incomplete.  No 
view  of  the  vital  statistics  of  a  community  is  complete  without  n 
knowledge  of  its  birth-rate.  The  birth-rate  is  closely  related  to  the 
death-rate.  The  natural  increase  of  population  depends  upon  the  ex 
cess  of  the  birth-rate  over  the  death-rate.  It  would  be  highly  inter 
esting  to  know  what  the  birth-rate  of  the  colored  population  in  the 
five  cities  under  consideration  is.  Is  it  as  great  as  the  death-rate  ?  Is 
it  greater  than  the  death-rate?  These  questions  cannot  be  answered 
satisfactorily  because  the  health  reports  do  not  supply  the  information. 
The  United  States  Census  of  1890  gives  the  colored  birth-rate  of  the 
United  States  as  29.07  per  thousand,  but  owing  to  the  incompleteness 
of  the  records  of  births  by  the  municipal  and  state  authorities,  these 
figures  are  not  reliable,  and  are  probably  much  too  small.  Four  Eu 
ropean  countries  have  birth-rates  which  exceed  the  colored  death-rate 
in  the  cities  that  we  have  under  consideration.  In  view  of  the  well- 
known  fecundity  of  the  Negro  race,  it  is  fair  to  infer  that  his  birth 
rate  is  certainly  as  high  as  that  of  the  Italian,  the  German,  the  Aus 
trian,  or  the  Hungarian.  If  this  is  so,  then  the  death-rate  in  these 
cities  has  not  reached  the  point  where  population  begins  to  decrease. 
It  is  well-nigh  useless  to  pursue  this  branch  of  the  subject  further, 
because  of  the  lack  of  data. 

Having  established  the  fact  that  the  average  colored  death-rate  for 
the  past  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  in  the  five  cities  is  73.8  per  cent  in 
excess  of  the  white  death-rate  in  the  same  cities  for  the  same  period, 
and  having  shown,  by  dividing  these  years  into  three  equal  periods  and 


See  for  Baltimore  table  f,  appendix  B. — En. 


14  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFK. 

comparing  the  rates  of  previous  with  succeeding  periods,  that  tin 
colored  death-rate  shows  an  improvement  over  fifteen  years  ago,  it  re 
mains  to  set  forth  the  causes  of  this  excessive  mortality. 

The  principal  causes  of  the  excessive  mortality  of  the  colored  peo 
ple  are  the  same  in  all  the  cities  ;  therefore,  it  will  serve  our  purpose 
to  know  the  average  death-rate  of  the  three  cities,  Charleston,  Mem 
phis  and  Richmond,  combined,  fora  period  of  fifteen  years,  for  certain 
classes  of  diseases,  and  to  give  in  full  the  same  facts  concerning  At 
lanta.  The  table  which  follows  shows  for  Charleston,  Memphis  and 
Richmond,  combined,  the  average  death-rate  per  10,000,  by  specified 
causes,  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years,  from  1881  to  1895: 

White.  Colored.        Per  cent  excess 

of  colored. 

Consumption  and  Pneumonia 32.76* 75.48 130.4 

Typhoid,  Malarial  and  Scarlet  Fe- 1  0~  .,«,  .,„ 

vers.   Diarrhea    and  Diphtheria  / 2°'16 26'22 3° 

Cholera  Infantum,  Convul-)  ,,  0~  .^.  , 

sions  and  Still-born  } 14'8/ 

Scrofula  and  Syphilis 81 4.72 482.7 

It  is  to  be  seen  from  the  table  above  that  for  all  classes  of  disease** 
the  colored  death-rate  exceeds  the  white.  The  greatest  excess  is  found 
under  scrofula  and  syphilis,  where  it  is  482.7  per  cent  in  excess  of  the 
white  death-rate.  The  next  greatest  excess  is  due  to  infantile  dis 
eases, — -cholera  infantum,  convulsions  and  still-born, — the  excess  being 
165.1  per  cent.  The  third  greatest  excess  is  due  to  pulmonary  dis 
eases,  and  is  seen  to  be  130.4  per  cent.  We  see  also  that  the  least 
disparity  between  the  white  and  the  colored  death-rate  is  found  under 
the  group  of  diseases  most  affected  by  environment,  including  typhoid 
and  malarial  fevers  and  dipththeria,  where  the  excess  is  only  30  per 
cent.  As  to  syphilis  and  scrofula,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  num 
ber  of  deaths  is  small.  The  white  death-rate  during  fifteen  years  in 
Charleston,  Memphis  and  Richmond  has  been  less  than  one  per 
10,000  of  the  population,  while  the  colored  was  somewhat  less  than  five. 
The  per  cent  of  the  excess  of  the  colored  over  the  white  is,  however, 
startling,  and  furnishes  much  food  for  reflection  as  to  the  morals  of  the 
colored  people. 

The  two  principal  causes  of  the  excessive  mortality  of  the  colored 
people  are  pulmonary  diseases, — consumption  and  pneumonia, —  and 


These  death-rates  for  specified  causes  are  per  ten  thousand. — ED. 


MORTALITY    AMONG    NEGROES    IN    CITIES.  15 

infant  mortality.  The  excessive  prevalence  of  consumption  and  pneu 
monia  among  colored  people  is  brought  out  very  plainly  in  the 
foregoing  table,  where  the  excess  in  these  cities  is  shown  to  be  130.4 
per  cent. 

The  following  table  containing  the  total  average  annual  number  of 
deaths,  and  the  average  annual  number  of  deaths  of  children  under 
five  years  of  age,  with  distinction  of  race,  will  serve  to  show  the  ex 
tent  of  the  infant  mortality  among  colored  people: 

ATLANTA,  GvV. 

Total  average  annual  number  Average  annual  number  of  deaths  under 

of  deaths.  5  years  of  age. 

White.  Colored.  White.         Colored.         Per  cent  of         Per  cent  of 

white.  colored. 

1882-85 470 751 172 313 38.7  41.6 

1880-90 644  845 224 348 34.7 41.1 

185)1-1)5 804  ,.1086 257  386 31.9 35.5 

CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 

1885-89 525 1394 .148 558 28.0 40.0 

1890-94 529 1316 141 518 26.4 39.3 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

1886-90 678 742 180 263 26.5 35.4 

1891-95 619 ..741 145 232 23.4 31.1 

There  is  an  enormous  waste  of  child-life  among  both  races,  not 
only  in  the  cities  under  consideration,  but  in  all  cities.  But  from  the 
data  at  hand  the  conclusion  is  justified  that  the  mortality  among  col 
ored  children  is  not  alarmingly  in  excess  of  the  mortality  among  white 
children,  unless  it  be  for  children  under  two  years  of  age.  The  fig 
ures  which  we  have  presented  on  this  subject  show  that  the  mortality 
among  children  of  both  races  has  decreased  constantly  since  1881  in 
Atlanta,  Charleston  and  Memphis. 

Of  the  diseases  which  are  excessively  prevalent  among  colored  peo 
ple,  the  most  important,  and  the  one  which  should  be  the  occasion  of 
the  greatest  alarm,  is  consumption.  We  have  seen  already  that  con 
sumption  and  pneumonia  are  among  the  causes  of  excessive  mortality 
of  the  colored  people,  the  excess  per  cent  of  Charleston,  Memphis  and 
Richmond  being  130.4. 

The  table  following  shows  the  rate  per  10,000  of  deaths  from  con 
sumption  in  all  the  cities  investigated  : 


STUDY    OF  -XKGRO    CITY    LIFK. 


ATLANTA.  GA. 

1882-85, 
1886-90. 
1891-95. 

White. 
18.40  
18.83  
16,82  

Colored. 
50,20  
45.88  
43.48  

Her  ct.  excess  of  colored 
172.83 
143.65 
158.50 

L886 

25  65  .  .. 

BALTIMORE,  Ml), 

..  58  65 

128  65 

1887  .... 
1891 

...  22.23  
v()  00  

55.42  
46  32  

149.30 
131  60 

1S92  .... 

20.10  .... 

49.41  

145.82 

( 

CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 

J  88  1-84 
1  885-89  . 
1890-94. 

27.52  .... 
20.05  
17.71  .... 

72.20  
68.08  
57.66  

162.35 
239.55 
225  58 

MEMPHIS,  TENN. 

1882-85. 
1886-90. 
|K91_% 

34.25  
24.29  
15  90     . 

65,35  
50.30  
;n  78 

90.80 
10708 
137  61 

1881-85 

2557    ... 

RICHMOND,  VA. 
r>4  9;-{  

.    .11482 

{  H86-90 

21  ?7  ..  ., 

41  63    . 

95  72 

!  *9  1  -95  . 

...18.54  .. 

...34.74... 

..   87.38 

It  is  to  be  seen  that  in  all  of  the  cities  the  death-rate  for  consump 
tion  is  high  among  the  colored  people,  the  lowest  rate  being  34. 74  per 
iO.OOO  in  Richmond,  and  the  highest,  72/20,  in  Charleston.  The 
greatest  disparity  between  the  white  and  the  colored  death-rate  for 
this  cause  is  also  in  Charleston,  where  the  excess  per  cent  of  the  col 
ored  is  as  high  as  239.5.  The  important  fact  must  not  be  lost  sight  of 
that  the  death-rate  from  this  cause  has  constantly  decreased  in  all  the 
cities  except  Charleston,  and  in  Charleston  the  death-rate  for  the  pe 
riod  1890-94  is  lower  than  for  the  period  1881—84.  There  is  reason, 
however,  for  great  concern  and  anxiety  as  to  the  excessive  prevalence 
of  this  disease  among  the  colored  people.  Unless  checked  and  re 
duced  to  a  normal  state,  it  may,  in  the  rourse  of  years,  be  a  deciding 
factor  in  the  ultimate  fate  of  the  race.  The  prevalence  of  tubercular 
and  scrofulous  diseases,  consumption,  scrofula,  syphilis  and  leprosy, 
has  caused  the  weaker  races  of  the  earth  tosucccumb  before  the  rising 
tide  of  the  Christian  civilization.  The  Carib  of  the  West  Indies,  the 
noble  red  man  of  these  shores,  the  natives  of  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
and  the  aborigines  of  Australia  and  Nrew  Zealand  have  all  disappeared 


MORTALITY    AMONG    NEGKOKS    IN    CITIK.S.  17 

or  been  greatly  reduced  in  numbers  as  the  result  of  the  ravages  of 
these  diseases.  It  should  be  an  object  of  first  importance,  then,  to  get 
control  of  these  diseases  before  they  reach  the  point  where  control  is 
impossible. 

It  will  be  of  interest  to  know  somewhat  in  detail  the  physical  con 
dition  of  the  population  in  Atlanta  for  the  fourteen  years  from  1882 
to  1895,  and  the  tables  which  follow  set  forth  quite  fully  this  fact. 

DEATH-RATE  PER  1,000,  ATLANTA,  GA. 
Period.  White.  Colored.  Per  ct.  excess  of  colored. 

1882-85 18.21 37.96 108.4 

1886-90  19.25 33.41 73.5 

1891-95 18.03 32.76 81.6 

It  is  seen  that  the  death-rate  of  the  colored  population,  though 
greatly  in  excess  of  that  of  the  white,  has  constantly  decreased,  the 
average  death-rate  per  1,000  for  the  first  period  being  37.96,  for  the 
.second  33.41,  and  for  the  third  32.76.  Relatively,  as  compared  with 
the  whites,  the  death  rate  of  the  colored  shows  much  improvement. 
Though  the  percentage  of  excess  of  colored  for  the  third  period  is 
greater  than  that  for  the  second,  the  percentage  for  both  of  these  pe 
riods  shows  a  marked  decrease  from  that  of  the  first  period. 

The  following  tables  show  for  three  periods,  1882  to  1885,  1886  to 
1890,  and  1891  to  1895,  the  average  annual  death-rate  per  10,000,  At 
lanta,  Ga.,  by  specified  causes. 

CONSUMPTION    AND  PNEUMONIA. 
Period.  White.  Colored.  Per  ct.  excess  of  colored. 

1882-85 27.43 76.89 180.3 

1886-90 30.13 72.14 139.4 

1891-95 28,48 75.75 165.9 

CHOLERA  INFANTUM  AND  STILL-BIRTHS. 

1886-90 26.78 5(1.09 109.4 

1891-95 24.99 53.86 115.5 

TYPHOID,  SCARLET  AND  MALARIAL  EEVERS,  AND  DIPHTHERIA. 

1882-85 11.58 19.31 66.7 

1886-90 14.58 17.17 17.7 

1891-95  10.72 12.48 . ,   16.4 

OTHER  CAUSES. 

1882-85 a!43.15  a283.44 a98.0 

1886-90 121.05 188.67 55.8 

1891-95 116.15 185.50 59,7 


a  Including  deaths  from  cholera  infantum  and  still-births. 


18  STUDY    OF    .NEGRO    CITY     LIKE. 

It  is  observed  that  in  all  these  groups  of  causes  the  colored  death- 
rate  has  decreased  from  period  to  period,  except  for  consumption  and 
pneumonia,  where  the  death-rate  for  the  period  1891—95  is  greater 
than  for  the  period  1886-90,  though  slightly  less  than  for  the  period 
1882-85. 

The  statistics  presented  in  the  various  tables  which  this  paper  con 
tains,  viewed  candidly  and  dispassionately,  shows  results  favorable  to 
the  physical  improvement  of  the  colored  race.  If  the  mortality  rate 
had  remained  stationary  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years,  it  would  have 
been  a  lasting  evidence  of  the  physical  strength  and  endurance  of  the 
race.  But  we  have  shown  that  the  rate  has  decreased  in  that  period, 
and  that,  too,  as  is  well  known,  in  the  face  of  hard,  exacting  and  op 
pressive  social  and  economic  conditions.  When  all  of  the  facts 
in  the  colored  man's  case  are  taken  into  consideration,  the  wonder  is, 
not  that  the  death-rate  is  as  high  as  it  is,  but  that  it  is  not  even  higher. 
The  history  of  weak  and  inferior  races  shows  that  they  begin  to  de 
crease  in  number  after  one  generation's  contact  with  Anglo-Saxon 
civilization.  The  native  population  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  a  hun 
dred  years  ago  was  estimated  to  be  100,000.  The  latest  census  taken 
on  the  Islands  shows  the  native  population  to  be  35,000.  We  do  not 
witness  this  decay  and  decrease  in  numbers  in  the  colored  race  any 
where  in  the  Western  Hemisphere. 

In  studying  any  phase  of  Negro  life  in  the  United  States,  the  fact 
must  be  kept  constantly  in  view  that  the  Negro  has  been  subjected  to 
degrading  and  blasting  slavery  for  more  than  two  centuries.  While 
slavery  did  its  victims  a  great  wrong  in  depriving  them  of  the  fruits 
of  their  toil,  it  did  them  a  greater  wrong  in  denying  them  opportuni 
ties  for  moral  and  mental  improvement.  Those  who  sit  in  judgment 
upon  the  Negro  and  study  his  frailties  and  shortcomings  must  not  for 
get  these  previous  conditions. 

To  recapitulate,  it  has  been  shown: 

First — That  the  colored  death-rate  exceeds  the  white,  the  excess  av 
eraging  for  five  cities,  during  a  period  of  fifteen  years,  73. S  per  cent. 
Second — That  the  death-rate  of  the  colored  population  in  five  cities 
is  lower  for  the  period  1890-95  than  for  the  period  1881-85. 

Third — That  the  principal  causes  of  the  excessive  mortality  among 
the  colored  people  of  five  cities  are  pulmonary  diseases  and  infant 
mortality. 


MORTALITY    AMONG    NEGROES    IN    CITIES.  19 

Fourth — That  the  least  disparity  between  the  white  and  colored 
death-rates  is  lor  those  diseases  due  to  unwholesome  sanitary  conditions; 
typhoid,  malarial  and  scarlet  fevers,  diphtheria  and  diarrhea. 

This  last  fact,  that  the  excessive  death-rate  of  the  colored  people  does 
not  arise  from  diseases  due  to  environment,  is  of  vast  importance.  If 
poor  houses,  unhealty  localities,  bad  sewerage  and  defective  plumbing 
were  responsible  for  their  high  death-rate,  there  would  be  no  hope  of 
reducing  the  death-rate  until  either  the  colored  people  became  wealthy, 
or  philanthropic  persons  erected  sanitary  houses,  or  municipalities 
made  appropriations  to  remove  these  conditions.  But  since  the  exces 
sive  death-rate  is  not  due  to  these  causes,  there  is  reason  for  the  belief 
that  it  may  be  reduced  without  regard  to  the  present  economic  condi 
tions  of  the  colored  people. 


NOTK. — For  further  data  compiled  by  Mr.  Hersliaw,  see  appendix  B.-Ed. 


20  STIU»Y    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFE. 


THE  PHYSICAL  CONDITION  OF  THE  RACE;  WHETHER 

DEPENDENT  UPON  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

OR  ENVIRONMENT. 

BY    PROF.    EUGENE     HARRIS,    FISK     UNIVERSITY,    NASHVILLE,    TENN. 


The  social  conditions  of  the  American  Negro  are  two-fold ;  those 
which  he  makes  for  himself,  and  those  which  the  white  people  make 
for  him.  The  latter  class  cannot  affect  the  physical  status  of  the 
Xegro  except  in  a  very  indirect  and  unimportant  way.  Separate 
apartments  in  public  conveniences,  such  as  hotels,  theatres,  or  railroad 
trains,  social  ostracism,  exclusion  from  political  preferment  and  the 
spoils  of  office,  the  suppression  of  his  ballot,  and  the  other  discrimi 
nations  which  are  made  against  the  black  man,  have  at  least  no  imme 
diate  bearing  on  his  health,  vitality,  or  longevity.  The  Negro  may 
eat  and  wear  what  he  pleases,  as  much  as  he  pleases,  and  as  often  as 
he  pleases.  The  provision  shops  and  dry  goods  stores  do  not  discrim 
inate  against  him  in  the  matter  of  food  and  wearing  apparel.  After 
a  hard  day's  work  he  may  carouse  at  night  just  as  late  as  he  pleases. 
There  is  not  a  black  law  upon  our  statute  books  regulating  his  private 
habits,  or  imposing  upon  him  unsanitary  surroundings,  or  restricting 
him  to  deleterious  occupations,  or  forcing  him  to  immoderate  indul 
gences. 

It  is  true  that  in  public  conveniences  the  Negro  must  take  separate 
apartments  ;  but  the  air  in  them  is  just  as  invigorating,  the  water  is 
just  as  healthful  and  pure,  and  the  food  is  just  as  nourishing  as  in  the 
apartments  for  the  whites.  Regular  bathing  will  throw  off  dead  mat 
ter  through  the  skin,  and  control  of  the  appetites  will  contribute 
largely  to  health  in  Negro  quarters  as  well  as  anywhere  else.  The  laws 
of  health  have  no  regard  for  artificial  social  barriers.  They  know  no 
color  line.  Civilly,  socially,  and  politically,  the  Negro  of  this  coun 
try  is  under  many  cruel  and  unjust  restrictions;  but  he  is  at  perfect 
liberty  to  be  abstemious  or  intemperate,  chaste  or  licentious,  cleanly 


MORTALITY    AMONG    N  KG  ROES    IN    CITIES.  21 

or  filthy.  In  the  struggle  tor  recognition  and  preferment  he  is  at  a 
great  disadvantage  ;  but  in  the  struggle  for  life,  apart  from  those  im 
pediments  for  which  he  himself  is  responsible,  he  has  almost,  if  not 
altogether,  an  equal  chance  with  the  whites. 

It  is  true  that  if  the  colored  people  in  our  larger  towns  are  bent 
upon  living  near  the  center  of  the  city,  they  cannot  rent  or  buy  prop 
erty,  except  in  the  less  desirable  or  abandoned  parts.  But  it  is  not 
necessity,  it  is  only  convenience  that  leads  them  to  live  over  stables,  in 
dark,  damp  cellars,  and  on  back  alleys,  in  the  midst  of  stench  and  pu 
trefaction.  They  can,  if  they  would,  go  to  the  suburbs,  where  they 
can  get  better  accommodations  for  less  money.  I  have  been  in  fami 
lies  in  Nashville  ranging  from  seven  to  ten,  living  on  a  back  alley, 
with  a  rivulet  of  filth  running  before  the  door  of  the  one  room  in 
which  they  bathed  and  ate  and  slept  and  died.  Two  miles  further  out 
all  of  these  families  might  have  secured  for  the  same  money  shanties 
of  two  and  three  rooms,  with  purer  air  and  water,  and  had  a  garden 
spot  besides.  Among  the  colored  people,  convenience  to  the  heart  of 
the  city  often  overrides  considerations  of  health,  and  that  the  white 
people  otter  them  hot-beds  of  disease  for  homes  is  no  excuse  for  their 
taking  them.  It  is  better  to  live  in  the  suburbs  than  to  die  in  the  city. 
The  Negro  is  induced,  but  not  forced,  to  accept  the  bad  accommoda 
tions  of  down-town  life.  Apart  from  this  apparent  exception  in  the 
matter  of  rented  houses,  no  race  discrimination  affects  in  the  least  the 
Negro's  physical  condition  ;  and  it  is  for  this  very  reason  that  I  am 
hopeful  of  a  change  for  the  better  in  the  vital  statistics  of  our  people. 
If  the  large  death-rate,  the  small  birth-rate,  the  susceptibility  to  dis 
ease,  and  the  low  vitality  of  the  race  were  due  to  causes  outside  of  our 
control,  J  could  see  nothing  before  us  but  the  "blackness  of  darkness 
forever."  But  because  the  colored  people  themselves  are  responsible 
for  this  sad  state  of  affairs,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  time  and  education 
will  correct  it. 

The  conclusions  which  I  shall  draw  in  this  paper  are  based  largely 
upon  my  study  of  the  problem  in  Nashville. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  the  excess  of  colored  deaths  over  white  is  due 
almost  entirely  to  constitutional  diseases  and  infant  mortality.  Accord 
ing  to  health  statistics,  the  constitutional  diseases  which  are  mainly  re 
sponsible  for  our  large  death-rate  are  pulmonary  consumption,  scrofula, 


22  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFE. 

and  syphilis,  all  of  which  are  alike  in  being  tuberculous.  A  large 
number  of  the  colored  convicts  in  our  state's  prison  at  Nashville  are 
consumptives  or  syphilitics.  Out  of  92  deaths  in  a  certain  territory 
in  Nashville,  19  deaths,  or  over  20  per  cent,  were  due  to  consumption. 
The  other  73  deaths  were  due  to  35  different  causes.  In  the  recent 
Atlanta  investigation,  according  to  the  mortality  report  of  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  consumption  was  the  cause  of  15  per  cent  of  the  deaths. 

DEATHS  FROM  CONSUMPTION  IN  NASHVILLE  FOR  THE  PERIOD  1*93-95. 

isi):?  1894  is;»r> 

White 124  .    91 82         A  reduction  of  nearly  34  per  cent. 

Colored 177 159 218         An  increase  of  over  23  per  cent. 

Alarming  as  are  the  facts  set  forth  in  the  preceding  table,  they  are 
not  the  whole  truth.  They  would  be  occasion  for  serious  concern  if 
the  races  were  numerically  equal ;  but  when  we  remember  that  the 
colored  people  of  Nashville  are  only  three-fifths  as  numerous  as  the 
whites,  it  is  all  the  more  startling.  For  the  year  1895,  when  82  white 
deaths  from  consumption  occurred  in  the  city  of  Nashville,  there  ought 
to  have  been  only  49  colored,  whereas  there  really  were  218,  or  nearly 
four  and  one-half  times  as  many  as  there  ought  to  have  been.  It  is 
an  occasion  of  serious  alarm  when  37  per  cent  of  the  whole  people  are 
responsible  for  72  per  cent  of  the  deaths  from  consumption. 

Deaths  among  colored  people  from  pulmonary  diseases  seem  to  be 
on  the  increase  throughout  the  South.  During  the  period  1882-85, 
the  excess  of  colored  deaths  from  consumption  for  the  city  of  Mem 
phis  was  90.80  per  cent.  For  the  period  1891—95,  the  excess  had 
arisen  to  over  137  per  cent.  For  the  period  of  1886-90,  the  excess  of 
colored  deaths  from  consumption  and  pneumonia  for  the  city  of  At 
lanta  was  139  per  cent.  For  the  period  1891-95,  it  had  arisen  to 
nearly  166  per  cent.* 

From  these  facts  it  would  appear  that  pulmonary  consumption  is 
the  "destroying  angel"  among  us,  and  yet  I  am  told  that  before  the 
war  this  dread  disease  was  virtually  unknown  among  the  slaves.  For 
tunately  Charleston,  8.  C.,  kept  even  before  the  war  the  mortality  sta 
tistics  of  the  colored  people,  and,  consequently,  we  are  able  to  ascer 
tain  with  some  accuracy  how  their  death-rate  from  consumption  before 

*  See  table  d,  appendix  B.-Ed. 


MORTALITY    A MON<;     NEGROES    IN    CITIES.  23 

the  war  compares  with  their  death-rate  afterwards.  What  are  the  facts 
in  the  case?  From  1822  to  1848,  the  colored  death-rate  from  con 
sumption  was  a  trifle  less  than  the  white.  Since  1885  it  has  been 
considerably  greater,  and  is  still  increasing.  According  to  F.  L. 
Hoffman,  the  white  mortality  from  that  cause  has  decreased  since  the 
war  134  per  hundred  thousand.  The  colored  mortality  has  increased 
over  234  per  hundred  thousand.* 

The  question  arises,  How  do  we  account  for  this  change?  Is  it  be 
cause  the  Negro  is  inherently  more  susceptible  to  pulmonnry  diseases, 
or  is  it  because  of  his  changed  environment, — his  different  social  con 
ditions?  Tf  his  tendency  to  consumption  is  due  to  his  inherent  sus 
ceptibility,  what  was  it  that  held  it  in  check  until  after  the  war?  It 
seems  that  this  fact  alone  is  sufficient  to  fix  the  responsibility  upon  the 
conditions  which  have  arisen  since  emancipation.  Mr.  F.  L.  Hoffman 
claims  that  the  Negro's  lungs  weigh  four  ounces  less  than  a  white 
man's,  and  that  though  his  normal  chest  measure  is  greater,  his  lung 
capacity  is  less ;  and  that  here  we  have  a  cause  for  the  Negro's  ten 
dency  to  consumption  which  no  environment,  however  favorable,  can 
affect.  Even  if  this  be  a  fact,  it  is  hard  to  see  how  it  began  to  operate 
as  a  cause  of  consumption  only  since  the  war. 

Let  us  turn  for  the  present  to  another  cause  of  the  excessive  mor 
tality  among  us ;  namely,  the  increased  prevalence  of  scrofula  and 
venereal  diseases.  For  the  period  1882—85,  the  colored  death-rate  in 
Memphis  from  scrofula  and  syphilis  was  205.8  per  cent  in  excess  of  that 
among  the  whites  ;  but  from  1891  down  to  the  present  time,  the  excess 
has  been  298  per  cent.  For  the  period  1893-95,  there  were  in  the 
city  of  Nashville  8  white  deaths  from  scrofula  and  syphilis,  nnd  35 
colored.  In  proportion  to  the  population,  there  ought  to  have  been 
only  5.  Of  course  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  fact  that,  on  ac 
count  of  the  scandal  and  disgrace,  white  physicians  are  reluctant  to 
report  white  deaths  from  these  causes  ;  whereas  such  motives  rarely, 
if  ever,  influence  them  in  reporting  colored  deaths. 

According  to  the  May  Bulletin  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  out  of 
1,090  colored  people  canvassed  this  year  in  the  city  of  Nashville,  18 

*"  Soe  "Ka.ce  Traits  and  Tendeneiesof  tho  American  Negro,     '»v  F.  L.  Hoffman. 
— ED. 


24  STITDY    OF    NEGRO    <TTY     LIFK. 

were  suffering  from  scrofula  and  syphilis.*  One  whose  attention  has 
not  been  called  to  the  matter  has  no  conception  of  the  prevalence  of 
these  diseases  among  the  Negroes  of  Nashville.  I  have  looked  for  it 
in  both  races  as  I  have  walked  the  streets  of  niy  city,  and  to  come 
across  the  loathsome  disease  in  the  colored  passers-by  is  not  an  uncom 
mon  occurrence.  This  state  of  affairs  can  be  accounted  for  when  I 
tell  you  that  there  is  probably  no  city  in  this  country  where  prostitu 
tion  among  colored  people  is  more  rampant  and  brazen,  and  where 
abandoned  colored  women  are  more  numerous  or  more  public  in  their 
shameful  traffic. 

In  the  families  canvassed  by  me  this  year,  among  50  sufferers  from 
rheumatism,  8  were  so  badly  crippled  as  to  be  bed-ridden  invalids. 
When  we  consider  the  fact  that  some  forms  of  rheumatism  are  syphi 
litic  in  their  origin,  and  that  in  the.se  same  families  there  were  IS 
suffering  from  scrofula  and  syphilis,  it  would  appear  that  venereal 
poisoning  was  responsible  for  a  considerable  share  of  the  rheumatism. 

There  is  one  obstacle  to  the  race's  reproducing  itself  that  has  some 
connection  with  venereal  diseases,  and  hence  I  speak  of  it  now.  I 
refer  to  the  enormous  amount  of  still  births  and  infant  mortality,  prev 
alent  everywhere  among  colored  people.  For  the  period  of  1893—95, 
the  still  and  the  premature  births  in  the  city  of  Nashville  were  272 
for  the  white,  and  385  for  the  colored;  or,  in  proportion  to  the  popu 
lation,  2J-  times  as  many  as  there  ought  to  have  been.  This  relative 
state  of  affairs  obtains  in  Memphis  and  Atlanta,  and  in  all  the  large 
cities  of  the  South.  From  the  health  reports  of  all  our  large  Southern 
cities  we  learn  that  a  considerable  amount  of  our  infant  mortality  is 
due  to  inanition,  infantile  debility,  and  infantile  marasmus.  Now  what 
is  the  case  in  regard  to  these  diseases?  The  fact  is  that  they  are  not 
diseases  at  all,  but  merely  the  names  of  symptoms  due  to  enfeebled 
constitutions  and  congenital  diseases,  inherited  from  parents  suffering 
from  the  effects  of  sexual  immorality  and  debauchery.  Translated 
into  common  speech,  they  are  nothing  more  than  infant  starvation, 
infant  weakness,  and  infant  wasting  away,  the  cause  of  which  is  that 
the  infants7  parents  before  them  have  not  given  them  a  fighting  chance 
for  life.  According  to  Hoffman,  over  50  per  cent  of  the  Negro  chil- 


See  table  8.  appendix   A. — Ei> 


MORTALITY     AMONG    NEGROKS    IN    O  IT  IKS.  25 

dren  born  in  Richmond,  Va.,  die  before  they  are  one  year  old. 

The  number  of  still  and  premature  births  among  us  is  a  matter  ot 
great  alarm,  not  only  because  it  seriously  interferes  with  the  numerical 
increase  of  the  race,  but  because  it  involves  the  fecundity,  the  health, 
and  even  the  moral  character  of  large  numbers  of  our  women.  The 
support  of  the  family  often  falls  very  heavily  upon  our  poor  washer 
women  ;  and  since  they  find  it  hard  to  get  the  husks  to  feed  and  the 
rags  to  clothe  their  already  large  number  of  little  folks,  living  in  one 
room  like  stock,  rather  than  to  add  to  their  burden,  they  resort  to 
crime.  An  official  on  the  Nashville  Board  of  Health,  who  is  also 
proprietor  of  a  drug  store,  tells  me  that  he  is  astonished  at  the  number 
of  colored  women  who  apply  at  his  store  for  drugs  with  a  criminal 
purpose  in  view. 

The  16  Atlanta  groups  in  the  recent  investigation  showed  that  the  -' 
female  heads  of  families  are  considerably  in  excess  of  the  male,  and  out  of 
324  families  31  were  wholly  supported  by  the  mother,  and  205  were 
supported  by  the  mother  altogether  or  in  part.*  In  such  social  con 
ditions  as  these,  where  the  burden  of  bread-winning  is  borne  largely, 
and  often  altogether,  by  the  mother  of  the  household,  it  is  not  surpris 
ing  that  poor,  laboring  women  who  are  ignorant  of  its  ruinous  effects 
upon  both  health  and  character,  should  resort  to  prenatal  infanticide. 

The  average  family  for  the  eighteen  cities  covered  by  our  recent  in 
vestigation  numbers  only  4.1,  which  means  that  in  these  eighteen  cities 
the  race  is  doing  barely  more  than  reproducing  itself.f  The  large 
colored  families  of  a  few  decades  ago  are  becoming  more  and  more 
scarce.  I  know  a  grandmother  who  was  the  proud  mother  of  over  a 
dozen  children  ;  the  daughter  could  boast  of  nine  ;  and  not  one  of  sev 
eral  granddaughters,  though  married  for  a  number  of  years,  is  the 
mother  of  more  than  one  child.  This  family  is  but  an  illustration  of 
many  others  just  like  it.  Such  facts  go  to  show  that  the  Negro  is  no 
longer  the  "  prolific  animal"  that  he  once  was  termed.  The  race,  like 
the  women  of  whom  Paul  once  wrote  to  Timothy,  must  be  "saved 
through  child-bearing." 

I  take  it  that  the  excess  of  infant  mortality  from  cholera  infantum 
and  convulsions  means  nothing  more  than  that  the  Negro  mothers  do 


*  See  table  7,  appendix  A.— Ed. 
t  See  table  3.  appendix  A.-  Kd. 


26  STUDY    OF    NKGRO    CITY     LIFK. 

not  know  so  well  how  to  feed  and  care  for  their  offspring.     They  need 
instruction  in  infant  dietetics  and  baby  culture. 

I  have  now  covered  the  ground  to  which  our  excessive  death  rate  is 
mainly  due:  namely,  pulmonary  diseases,  especially  consumption  and 
pneumonia,  scrofula,  venereal  diseases,  and  infant  mortality.  If  we 
eliminate  these  diseases,  our  excessive  death  rate  will  be  a  thing  of  the 
past. 

Let  us  now  inquire,  What  is  there  in  the  Negro's  social  condition 
that  is  responsible  for  the  prevalence  of  these  diseases,  and  the  conse 
quent  mortality?  In  the  first  place  then,  be  it  known  by  all  men  that 
we  to-day  in  this  conference  assembled  are  not  the  enemies  of  our 
people  because  we  tell  them  the  truth.  We  shall  know  the  truth,  and 
the  truth  shall  make  us  free  not  only  from  the  bondage  of  sin,  but  from 
vicious  social  conditions  and  consequent  physical  death.  Sanitary 
regulations  and  the  social  reconstruction  of  Israel  formed  a  large  part  of 
Moses'  religious  duty,  and  why  may  it  not  of  ours? 

While  I  do  not  depreciate  sanitary  regulations,  and  a  knowledge  of 
hygienic  laws,  I  am  convinced  that  the  nine  qua  non  of  a  change  for  the 
better  in  the  Negro's  physical  condition  is  a  higher  social  morality.  I 
^  do  not  believe  that  his  poverty  or  his  relation  to  the  white  people  pre 
sents  any  real  impediment  to  his  health  and  physical  development. 
Without  going  into  the  reasons  for  it,  it  is  well  known  that  the  poor 
laboring  classes  often  enjoy  better  health,  are  freer  from  disease,  have 
larger  families,  and  live  longer  lives  than  the  rich. 

I  am  convinced  that  for  the  causes  of  the  black  man's  low  vitality,  his 
susceptibility  to  disease,  and  his  enormous  death-rate  we  must  look  to 
those  social  conditions  which  he  creates  for  himself.  What  are  they? 
I  have  already  referred  to  the  social  causes  of  our  excessive  infant 
^mortality,  namely,  the  frequency  with  which  the  partial  or  the  entire 
maintenance  of  the  household  devolves  upon  the  mother;  and  especially 
the  impaired  chance  for  life  which  a  debauched  and  immoral  parent 
age  bequeaths  to  childhood.  The  infants  in  their  graves  will  rise  up 
in  judgment  against  this  evil  and  adulterous  generation  and  condemn 
it. 

The  constitutional  diseases  which  are  responsible  for  our  unusual 
mortality  are  often  traceable  to  enfeebled  constitutions  broken  down 
by  sexual  immoralities.  This  is  frequently  the  source  of  even  pulmo- 


MORTALITY  AMONG  NKGKOKS  IN  CITIES.  27 

tiary  consumption,  which  disease  is  to-day  the  black  man's  scourge. 

According  to  Hoffman,  over  25  per  cent  of  the  Negro  children  born 
in  Washington  City  are  admittedly  illegitimate.  According  to  a 
writer  quoted  in  "  Black  America,"  "  In  one  county  of  Mississippi  there- 
were  during  12  months  300  marriage  licenses  taken  out  in  the  county 
L'lerk's  office  for  white  people.  According  to  the  proportion  of  popu 
lation  there  should  have  been  in  the  same  time  1,200  or  more  for 
Negroes.  There  were  actually  taken  out  by  colored  people  just  three." 
James  Anthony  Froude  asserts  that  70  per  cent  of  the  Negroes  in  the 
West  Indies  are  born  in  illegitimacy.  Mr.  Srneeton  claims  that  "  in 
-.pite  of  the  increase  of  education,  there  has  been  no  decrease  of  this 
social  cancer."  My  attention  has  been  (railed  to  a  resort  in  Nashville 
within  less  than  two  blocks  of  the  public  square  where  a  large  number 
of  abandoned  women  and  profligate  men  often  congregate  in  the  un 
derground  basement,  which  is  lighted  and  ventilated  only  through  the 
pavement  grating ;  and  there  in  debauchery  and  carousal  they  make 
the  night  hideous  until  almost  morning.  What  are  they  sowing  but 
disease,  and  what  can  they  reap  but  death? 

It  is  true  that  much  of  the  moral  laxity  which  exists  among  us  to 
day  arose  out  of  slavery.  It  is  due  to  a  system  which  whipped  women, 
which  dispensed  with  the  institution  of  marriage,  which  separated 
wives  from  their  husbands  and  assigned  them  to  other  men,  which 
ruthlessly  destroyed  female  virtue,  and  which  made  helpless  women 
the  abject  tools  of  their  masters.  This  is  the  correct  explanation  of 
our  social  status  to-day,  but  to  explain  it  is  not  to  excuse  it.  It  is  no 
longer  our  misfortune  as  it  was  before  the  war :  it  is  our  sin,  the  wages 
of  which  is  our  excessive  number  of  deaths.  Always  and  everywhere, 
moral  leprosy  means  physical  death.  Wherever  the  colored  people 
are  guilty  of  the  immoralities  of  which  James  Anthony  Froude  and 
W.  L.  Clowes  of  the  London  Titties  accuse  them,  if  they  continue  in 
them  they  will  be  destroyed  by  them  root  and  branch.  Rome  was 
destroyed  because  the  empire  had  no  mothers,  and  Babylon  was  blotted 
out  because  she  was  the  "  mother  of  harlots." 

A  few  years  ago  I  said  in  a  sermon  at  Fisk  University  that  wherever 
the  Anglo-Saxon  comes  into  contact  with  an  inferior  race,  the  inferior 
race  invariably  goes  to  .the  wall.  I  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  in 
spite  of  humanitarian  and  philanthropic  efforts,  the  printing  press,  the 


28  STUDY    OF    NEGItO    CITY    LIFE. 

steam  engine  and  the  electric  motor  in  the  hands  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
were  exterminating  the  inferior  races  more  rapidly  and  more  surely 
than  shot,  and  shell,  and  bayonet.  I  mentioned  a  number  of  races 
that  have  perished  not  because  of  destructive  wars  and  pestilence,  but 
because  they  were  unable  to  live  in  the  environment  of  a  nineteenth 
century  civilization  ;  races  whose  destruction  was  not  due  to  a  perse 
cution  that  came  to  them  from  without,  but  to  a  lack  of  moral  stamina 
within  ;  races  that  perished  in  spite  of  the  humanitarian  and  philan 
thropic  efforts  that  were  put  forth  to  save  them. 

To  that  utterance  let  me  now  add  this  thought :  that  where  shot,  and 
shell,  and  bayonet,  and  the  printing  press  and  the  steam  engine,  and 
the  electric  motor  have  slain  their  thousands  ;  licentious  men,  unchaste 
women,  and  impure  homes  have  slain  their  tens  of  thousands:  and  I 
speak  the  words  of  soberness  and  truth  when  I  say  that  if  the  charges 
of  sexual  immoralities  brought  against  us  are  true,  unless  there  be 
wrought  a  social  revolution  among  us,  the  handwriting  of  our  destruc 
tion  even  now  may  be  seen  on  the  wall.  The  history  of  nations 
teaches  us  that  neither  war,  nor  famine,  nor  pestilence  exterminate!- 
them  so  completely  and  rapidly  as  do  sexual  vices. 

If  the  cause  of  our  excessive  death-rate  be,  in  its  ultimate  analysis, 
moral  rather  than  sanitary,  then  this  fact  ought  to  appear  not  only  in 
our  vital,  but  in  our  criminal  statistics  as  well.  Prof.  Starr,  of  Chicago 
University,  claims  that  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  where  there  i« 
little  opportunity  to  assert  that  the  courts  are  prejudiced  against  col 
ored  criminals,  though  the  Negroes  form  only  2  per  cent  ot  the  popu 
lation,  yet  they  furnish  16  per  cent  of  the  male  prisoners,  and  34  per 
cent  of  the  female.  The  race  has  such  great  privileges  in  Chicago  and 
it  is  dealt  with  so  fairly  and  justly  that  the  colored  people  themselves 
have  denominated  it  the  "  Negroes'  Heaven  ;"  and  yet,  according  to 
Prof.  Starr,  while  the  Negroes  form  only  1 J  per  cent  of  the  population  of 
Chicago,  they  furnish  10  percent  of  the  arrests.  I  am  convinced  that 
the  immorality  which  accounts  for  these  crimiiral  conditions  is  also  re 
sponsible  for  the  race's  physical  status  ;  and  if  we  are  to  strike  at  tin- 
root  of  the  matter,  it  will  not  be  at  sanitary  regulations,  but  at  social 
reconstruction  and  moral  regeneration. 


Note:   We  regret  beinjr  unable  to  print  th»-  whole  of  Prof.  Harris'  valuable  paper-E<J. 


SFX'ONI)  ANNUAL  CONFERENCE.  2,9 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  CONFERENCE. 


MINUTES. 


The  second  Atlanta  University  Conference  on  Problems  of  Negro  City  Life  con 
vened  in  the  Ware  Memorial  Chapel  on  Tuesday,  May  25,  1897,  at  8  P.M. 

President  Horace  Bu instead,  of  Atlanta  University,  opened  the  conference  as 
presiding  officer;  after  which  it  was  voted  that  George  A.  Towns  ('94)  and  George  F, 
•Smith  ('97)  be  made  recording  secretaries. 

A  letter  was  then  read  from  His  Excellency  Gov.  W.  Y.  Atkinson  of  Georgia,  in 
which  he  expressed  regret  for  his  inability  to  deliver  the  address  of  welcome.  Presi 
dent  Bumstead  then  delivered  the  opening  address. 

The  general  purpose  of  the  meeting  Tuesday  night  was  to  set  forth  clearly  the  facts 
as  to  the  physical  and  sanitary  condition  of  Negroes  in  cities,  as  brought  out  by  the 
investigation.  In  accordance  with  this  purpose  three  carefully  prepared  papers  were 
presented:  the  first  a  "  General  Summary,"  by  Butler  R.  Wilson,  Esq.,  of  Boston, 
Mass.  ;  the  second  entitled  "  Social  and  Physical  Progress  :  a  Comparative  Analysis 
of  the  Reports  of  the  Boards  of  Health  of  Atlanta,  Baltimore,  Charleston,  Memphis, 
and  Richmond,"  by  Mr.  L.  M.  Hershaw  of  Washington,  D.  C. ;  the  third  entitle-.) 
'The  Physical  Condition  of  the  Race,  whether  Dependent  upon  Social  Conditions  or 
Environment,"  by  Prof.  Eugene  Harris  of  Fisk  University. 

Bishop  L.  H.  Holsey,  D.D.,  who  was  on  the  program  and  present,  did  not  speak 
because  of  the  lateness  of  the  hour  and  his  physical  indisposition. 

Butler  R.  Wilson,  Esq.,  then  introduced  certain  resolutions,  which  were  referred  to 
u  committee  on  resolutions,  consisting  of  Butler  R.  Wilson,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  Mass., 
Prof.  Eugene  Harris  of  Nashville,  Tenn. ;  Rev.  Dr.  W.  G.  Alexander  of  Atlanta  ; 
Rev.  J.  E.  Smith  of  Chattanooga,  Tenn.;  and  Miss  Lucjr  C.  Lariey  of  Augusta. 

The  meet  ing  was  then  adjourned. 

On  Wednesday  afternoon  at  I>  o'clock  there  were  two  simultaneous  meetings  of  the 
conference.  That  for  men  was  held  in  the  ^Prayer  Meeting  Room,  and  had  as  its 
general  subject:  "Consumption;  its  Causes,  and  Means  to  Prevent  it." 

The  presiding  officer  was  Prof.  Win.  H.  Crogman  ('76),  of  Clark  University,  who 
made  suitable  introductory  remarks.     Papers  were  then  read  as  follows  :    "  Ventila 
tion,   Exercise  and    Physical   Development,"     by    H.  R,    Butler,    M.D,,    of   Atlanta  • 
'  Care  of  the  Tenth  in  its  Relation   to    Health,"  by  J.  R.  Porter,  D.D.S.,  of  Atlanta; 
"Causes  of  Consumption,  and  Practical  Methods  of  Preventing  it,"  by  A.  J.  Love,  M.D., 
of  Chattanooga,  Tenn.  ;  '' A  Social  Study  of  1,000  Atlanta  Homes,"   by  Prof.   F.  A 
Updyke  of  the  Atlanta  Baptist  College,  read  in  his  absence  by  Pres.  George  Sale  of 
that  institution.     A  paper  was  also  read  by  Dr.  A.  M.  Brown  of  Birmingham,  Ala0 
in  place  of  the  one  that  should  have  been  read  by  Dr.   R.    F.    Boyd     of    Nashville, 
Tenn.,  who  telegraphed   regret  at   his  inability  to  attend  on  account  of  sickness. 


30  STUDY    OF    NKGHO   CITY    l.IFK. 

This  was  followed  by  an  animated  general  discussion,  participated  in  by  Butler  R 
Wilson,  Esq.,  Rev.  J.  E.  Smith,  Mr.  L.  M.  Hershaw,  Rev.  H.  H.  Proctor  of  Atlanta, 
Dr.  H.  R.  Butler,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  G.  Alexander,  Prof.  W.  B.  Matthews  of  Atlanta,  Rev 
Dr.  W.  J.  White  of  Augusta,  Prof.  Eugene  Harris.  Rev.  William  Flagg  of  Atlanta 
and  Prof.  W.  H.  Crogman, 

A  committee,  of  which  Prof.  W.  H.  Crogman  was  chairman,  was  chosen  to  prepare 
resolutions  to  be  offered  at  the  evening  meeting. 

The  meeting  was  then  adjourned. 


The  meeting  for  women,  held  at  the  same  hour,  in  Ware  Memorial  Chapel,  had  as 
its  general  subject  :  "  Infant  Mortality  ;  its  Causes,  and  Means  to  Check  it.'  After 
a  preliminary  explanation  by  Butler  R.  Wilson,  Msq.,  a  suitable  intro 
ductory  address  was  delivered  by  Miss  Lucy  C.  Laney,  of  Augusta,  who  presided 
Over  the  meeting.  Papers  were  then  read  as  follows:  "Friendly  Visiting.1'  by  Mrs. 
Minnie  Wright  Price  of  South  Atlanta;  "Parents'  Associations.''  by  Mrs.  Dinah 
Watts  Pace  of  Covington  ;  "  Mothers'  Meetings.  '  by  Mrs.  Georgia  Swift  King  of 
Atlanta;  "Need  of  Day  Nurseries,1'  by  Mrs.  Selena  Sloan  Butler  of  Atlanta; 
"  Need  of  Kindergartens,"  by  Mrs.  Rosa  Morehead  Bass  of  Atlanta. 

The  reading  of  these  papers  was  followed  by  an  animated  discussion,  participated 
in  by  Miss  Lucy  C.  Laney,  Mrs.  Adella  Hunt  Logan.  Mrs.  Georgia  Swift  King,  Mrs 
David  T.  Howard  of  Atlanta,  Mrs.  Thos.  N.  Chase  of  Atlanta,  Mrs.  Or.  Murray  of 
Gammon  Theological  Seminary,  and  others. 

A  committee,  of  which  Mrs.  Dinah  Watts  Pace  was  chairman,  was  appointed  to 
draft  suitable  resolutions  for  presentation  at  the  evening  meeting:  after  which  the 
meeting  adjourned. 

The  meeting  Wednesday  night  convened  in  Ware  Memorial  Chapel  at  H  o'clock 
aud  was  presided  over  by  President  Bumst.ead.  Prayer  was  offered  by  Rev.  Calvin 
Lane  of  Marietta.  A  paper  was  then  read  by  Mrs.  Adella  Hunt  Logan  of  luskegee 
Ala,,  on  "Prenatal  and  Hereditary  Influences,'  Rev.  Joseph  K.  Smith  followed 
with  a  paper  on  the  "  Care  of  Neglected  Children.  The  resolutions  prepared  bv 
the  committee  appointed  at  the  men's  section  meeting  were  then  pre>ented  b\  Prof. 
Wm.  H.  Crogman  and  adopted  by  the  conference,-1 

Rev.  H.  H.  Proctor  then  spoke  upoti  the  "  Need  of  Friendly  Visiting.'  and  Miss 
Lucy  C.  Laney  upon  the  "Care  of  Children  and  Methods  of  Preventing  Infant  Morj 
tility."  The  resolutions  prepared  by  the  committee  appointed  at  the  women's  section 
meeting  were  then  presented  by  Mrs.  Dinah  Watts  Pace,  and  adopted  by  the  eo?i- 
ference.* 

At  this  point  Rev.  J.  K.  Smith  spoke  concerning  the  nursery  movement  in  Chatta 
nooga,  Tenn,  Prof.  Wm.  E.  Holmes,  of  the  Atlanta  Baptist  College,  spoke  of  the 
\vorkoftheSociologicalClubof  Atlanta.  Mr.  L.  M.  Hershaw  reported  eoneerninu, 
the  Graduate  Club  in  Washington,  I).  C. 


*  For  these  resolutions  see  jwuje  :W.. 


KECONJ)    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE.  3]l 

Butler  R.  Wilson,  Esq.,  then  read  the  following  letter  from  Mr.  George  G.Bradford, 
of  Boston,  to  President  Bumstead  : 

i(  Tt  is  with  great  regret  that  I  hereby  tender  my  resignation  as  corresponding  sec 
retary  of  the  conference.  I  need  not  assure  you  that  only  urgent  necessity  compels 
me  to  give  up  a  work  in  which  I  have  taken  so  deep  an  interest." 

The  following  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted,  upon  the  receipt  of  this  letter  : 

''  Whereas,  Mr.  George  G.  Bradford,  of  Boston,  a  trustee  of  the  Atlanta  University, 
has  been  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  make  permanent  the  movement  to  obtain  exact 
information  concerning  the  social,  physical  and  moral  condition  of  the  colored  peo 
pie  living  in  cities  ; 

"  Resolved:  That  this  conference  hereby  tender  him  the  thanks  of  the  colored  peo 
pie  for  his  splendid  work  and  instruct  the  secretaries  of  the  conference  to  send  him 
;i  copy  of  these  resolutions." 

It  was  then  voted  that  an  executive  committee  of  five  be  appointed  at  some  future 
time  to  make  plans  for  a  subsequent  investigation,  to  decide  the  subjects  to  be  inves 
tigated.  to  appoint  a  recorder,  and  to  name  a  corresponding  secretary. 

Butler  R.  Wilson,  Esq.,  then  read  the  resolutions  presented  by  the  committee  on 
Tuesday  night.  There  was  considerable  discussion  as  to  the  phraseology  of  the  first 
resolution,  participated  in  by  Butler  R.  Wilson,  Esq.,  Rev.  J.  E.  Smith,  Prof.  Eugene 
Harris,  Dr.  A.  J.  Love,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  J.  White,  Mr.  L.  M.  Hershaw,  and  Prof.  T.  N. 
Chase.  The  resolutions  as  a  whole  were  unanimously  adopted.* 

After  remarks  by  Mrs.  Georgia  Swift  King  concerning  a  partially  successful  at 
t,einpt  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  establish  a  day  nursery  in  Atlanta,  and  further  remarks 
by  Mrs.  Dinah  Watts  Pace,  the  conference  adjourned. 

GEORGK  A.  TOWNS,  )  Recording 
GKORGK  F.  SMITH,  /Secretaries. 

*  For  these  resolution*  see  page  83. 


32  STUDY    OF    NKGKO    CITY     t.lVK, 


RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  BY  THE  CONFERENCE 


METHODS  OF  PREVENTING  CONSUMPTION, 

REPORTED  FROM  THE  MEN'S  SECTION  MEETING. 

Whereas,  the  chief  modes  of  infection  are: 

First — By  inhaling  dry  and  pulverized  expectoration; 

Second — By  using  spoons,  cups,  and  other  articles  which  have  not 
been  properly  cleaned  after  using  by  tuberculous  patients; 

Third — By  kissing; 

Fourth — From  intermarriage  of  tuberculous  individuals. 
Therefore,  Resolved: 

First — That  sputum  must  be  destroyed  and  must  not  be  allowed 
to  become  dry,  and  that  handkerchiefs  used  by  tuberculous  persons 
must  be  destroyed; 

Second — That  the  floors  and  walls  of  rooms  occupied  by  tubercu 
lous  persons  must  be  thoroughly  disinfected  before  being  used  by  other 
persons; 

Third — That  carpets,  curtains  and  bedding  must  be  exposed  to  su 
perheated  steam  under  high  pressure; 

Fourth — That  all  living  rooms  must  be  thoroughly  aired  daily, 
kept  thoroughly  clean,  and  ventilated  night  and  day. 


MOTHERS'  MEETINGS,  DAY  NURSERIES,  FAMILY  SUPPORT 

AND  KINDERGARTENS. 

REPORTED  FROM  THE  WOMEN'S  SECTION  MEETING. 

Whereas,  a  race  cannot  rise  higher  than  its  women,  and  the  home  is 
the  great  school  for  the  molding  of  character,  and  mothers  are  the 
most  important  factors  in  these  schools ; 

Therefore,  Resolved:  That  anew  impetus  be  given  to  the  establish 
ing  and  holding  of  mothers'  meetings  whenever  and  wherever  prac 
ticable,  for  the  instruction,  development  and  uplifting  of  the  mother- 


SECOND    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE.  33 

hood  of  our  race  along  practical,  moral  and  spiritual  lines. 

Whereas,  a  very  large  percentage  of  our  women,  being  thrown  upon 
their  own  resources  for  a  livelihood  for  themselves  and  families,  are 
compelled  daily  to  leave,  uncared  for,  their  little  ones ; 

Therefore,  Resolved:  That  individuals  and  organizations  interest 
themselves  in  the  immediate  establishment,  on  a  small  scale  at  first, 
of  day  nurseries  for  the  care  and  culture  of  these  dear  little  ones. 

Whereas,  investigation  shows  that  a  very  large  majority  of  our  men 
are  supported  by  their  wives,  and  since  such  a  condition  of  affairs 
must  of  necessity  hinder  wives  and  mothers  from  performing  their 
higher  duties,  such  as  the  careful  training  of  families  along  moral  and 
spiritual  lines,  and  since  man  in  failing  to  care  for  his  family  proves 
himself  to  be  unfit  to  be  called  husband  or  father  ; 

Therefore,  Resolved:  That  in  order  to  arouse  and  educate  such  men 
to  a  full  appreciation  of  their  duties  men's  meetings  be  held  whenever 
and  wherever  practicable,  and  that  our  ministers  of  the  Gospel  preach 
special  sermons  along  all  practical  lines  ;  that  by  these  two  agencies 
the  men  of  to-day  may  be  aroused  to  a  keener  sense  of  their  responsi 
bility  in  this  matter  of  family  support. 

Whereas,  the  need  of  kindergarten  work  is  clearly  seen  for  the 
starting  of  the  little  ones  into  proper  channels  of  training,  and  since 
work  in  this  department  has  been  of  the  greatest  help  to  teachers  who 
lead  the  young  minds  from  this  into  higher  branches,  and  since  the 
child-life  in  the  school-room  should  be  of  vital  interest  to  parents; 

Therefore,  Resolved:  That  efforts  be  put  forth  for  the  establishment 
and  maintenance  of  such  departments  of  educational  Avork. 


GENERAL   RESOLUTIONS. 


Resolved,  That  it  appears  from  the  result  of  the  investigation  :— 

First — That  the  excessive  mortality  among  Negroes  is  not  due 
mainly  to  environment; 

Second — That  the  excessive  mortality  among  Negroes  is  largely  due 
either  to  their  ignorance  or  to  their  disregard  of  the  laws  of  health 
and  morality ; 

Third — That  the  excessive  mortality  and  the  apparent  increase  of 


34  STUDY    OF    NEGRO   CITY    LIFE. 

immorality  among  the  Negroes  is  chiefly  due  to  neglect  of  home  and 
family  life,  the  chief  cause  of  which  is  the  extent  to  which  the  mothers 
are  obliged  to  go  out  to  work  ; 

Fourth — That  the  failure  of  the  men  to  entirely  support  their  fami 
lies  with  their  earnings  has  a  most  serious  effect  upon  the  social,  phys 
ical  and  economic  progress  of  the  race ; 

Fifth — That  finally,  it  appears  that  the  Negro  must  reform  himself, 
and  that  he  is  not  dependent  upon  charity  or  municipal  regulations, 
but  has  the  means  in  his  own  hands. 

Resolved,  That  the  following  recommendations  are  made: — 

First — That  the  attention  of  members  of  the  conference  during  the 
coming  year  be  concentrated  on  reforms  in  the  family  life  of  the 
Negro; 

Second — That  greater  care  and  attention  should  be  given  to  the 
home  training  of  children,  and  also  of  young  men  and  young  women,  and 
that  parents'  associations  and  mothers'  meetings  should  be  formed  for 
that  purpose; 

Third — That  day  nurseries  should  be  provided  for  the  care  of  infants 
and  young  children  in  the  enforced  absence  of  the  parents; 

Fourth — That  friendly  visiting  among  the  poor  should  be  more  gen 
eral  and  more  systematic,  and  that  friendly  visitors  should  hold  weekly 
or  monthly  conferences  under  the  direction  of  those  who  are  making  a 
special  study  of  social  problems. 


SECOND    ANNUAL   CONFERENCE.  35 

ADDRESSES,  PAPERS,  AND  LETTERS. 


ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT  BUMSTEAD. 


It  has  been  our  hope,  and  for  a  time  our  expectation,  that  the  ad 
dress  of  welcome  would  be  given  to-night  by  His  Excellency,  Gov 
ernor  Atkinson,  but  circumstances  have  prevented  his  attendance,  and 
we  must  content  ourselves  with  the  expression  of  his  interest  and  good 
wishes  which  he  has  so  kindly  conveyed  in  his  letter  of  regret. 

It  seems,  therefore,  to  fall  to  me  to  speak  the  word  of  welcome,  and 
I  do  it  with  great  heartiness.  I  welcome  you  to  the  interesting  dis 
cussions  which  this  conference  has  in  store  for  us.  I  congratulate 
you,  too,  on  the  painstaking  and  highly  successful  work  which  you 
have  carried  on  since  our  meeting  a  year  ago,  and  which  will  form  the 
basis  of  discussion  at  the  present  meeting.  The  results  of  your  inves 
tigations  conducted  last  fall  and  winter,  as  embodied  in  the  statistical 
tables  of  the  May  Bulletin  of  the  Department  of  Labor  at  Washington, 
have  impressed  me  deeply.  I  am  impressed  with  the  enormous  amount 
of  careful,  patient,  discriminating,  and  conscientious  labor  which  those 
tables  represent,  and  I  am  impressed  anew  with  the  significance  and 
importance  of  statistical  science. 

What  is  the  significance  of  the  statistical  work  in  which  this  con 
ference  is  now  engaged  ?  You  and  I  have  sometimes  seen  a  man  who 
attracted  our  attention  because  of  his  striking  physical  health.  His 
figure  was  erect  and  finely  proportioned,  his  muscles  well  developed, 
his  step  elastic,  his  eye  clear,  his  complexion  of  the  kind  that  reveals 
healthy  blood  coursing  through  every  artery  and  vein.  This  man, 
however,  may  once  have  been  a  weak  and  sickly  student  in  college. 
How  did  this  transformation  take  place?  It  was  the  work  of  the 
director  of  physical  culture  in  that  college.  He  took  the  student  in 
hand,  made  careful  measurements  of  the  different  parts  of  his  body,  tested 
the  action  of  his  muscles  and  of  his  lungs  and  heart  and  other  vital 
organs,  found  out  where  the  weak  points  in  his  body  were,  and  noted 
accurately  the  degree  of  weakness  or  of  insufficient  development. 
Then  he  presented  certain  exercises  for  the  student  to  practice  to  se 
cure  a  more  vigorous  or  a  more  symmetrical  development,  a  certain 
diet  to  follow,  possibly  certain  medicines  or  tonics  to  take.  The 


36  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    riTY    LIFE. 

transformation  followed,  and  its  success  all  depended  on  the  accuracy 
with  which  the  real  condition  of  that  young  student's  physical  organ 
ism  was  ascertained  by  the  director  of  physical  culture. 

We  are  dealing  with  a  much  larger  and  vastly  more  important 
organism  than  that  of  any  individual — the  great  social  organism  of 
which  we  all  form  a  part,  an  organism  of  wonderful  complexity,  with 
a  life  peculiar  to  itself,  and  just  as  much  subject  to  the  laws  of  health 
and  disease  as  the  body  of  any  individual  can  possibly  be.  It  is  the 
prime  object  of  all  sociological  investigation  to  find  out  the  weak  spots 
in  the  social  organism  and  to  seek  to  remedy  them.  This  is  the  work 
in  which  we  are  engaged,  in  common  with  all  other  students  of  social 
science.  We  are  not,  indeed,  undertaking  to  do  the  whole  of  it,  but 
only  a  part.  We  have  wisely  chosen  for  the  present  to  confine  our 
selves  to  that  constituent  part  of  the  social  organism  which  is  made 
up  of  a  single  race  or  class  of  people,  and  to  those  nerve-centers  of 
modern  life  which  are  found  in  the  cities  and  larger  towns.  But  it  is 
none  the  less  for  the  benefit  of  the  larger  whole  that  we  carry  on  this 
more  limited  work.  And  for  the  furtherance  of  the  great  end  before 
us  all — the  perfect  health  of  the  social  organism,  or  the  body  politic, 
as  it  is  sometimes  called,  I  am  confident  that  your  investigations  of 
the  past  winter  will  prove  a  substantial  contribution. 

Before  we  pass  to  the  discussion  of  the  statistics  to  which  I  have 
referred,  it  is  perhaps  important  that  I  should  remind  you  of  the  two 
things  which  constitute  the  chief  value  of  all  statistics.  One  is  the 
accuracy  with  which  they  are  gathered,  and  the  other  is  the  honesty 
with  which  they  are  interpreted.  The  gathering  of  statistics  is  not  the 
easy  task  which  many  people  suppose,  or  which,  possibly,  you  sup 
posed  before  you  tried  it.  It  requires  intelligence,  discrimination, 
tact,  courtesy,  patience  and  fidelity  in  no  small  degree,  and  your  work 
shows  the  possession  of  these  qualities  to  a  very  gratifying  extent,  as 
it  seems  to  me.  But  the  correct  reading  and  interpretation  of  statistics 
is  oftentimes  an  almost  equally  delicate  and  difficult  task.  The  temp 
tation  is  frequently  strong  to  close  our  eyes  to  unpleasant  conclusions 
or  to  attempt  to  explain  them  away.  Candor  and  courage  are  needed 
here  in  the  proper  interpretation  of  our  statistical  \vork  as  intelligence 
and  accuracy  were  needed  in  their  collection.  Let  the  proceedings  of 
this  conference  demonstrate  that  we  are  possessed  of  all  these  qualities. 


SECOND    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE.  37 

PRENATAL  AND  HEREDITARY  INFLUENCES. 

BY  MRS.  ADELLA  HUNT  LOGAN  ('81),  TUSKEGEE,  ALA. 


The  boy  takes  his  large  nose  from  his  grandmother,  the  small  mouth 
from  his  father,  and  a  quick  temper  from  his  mother.  This  is  natural, 
for  children  always  inherit  the  characteristics  of  their  ancestors.  But 
where  does  he  get  red  hair?  No  one  in  the  family  has  hair  of  that 
color.  And  how  is  it  that  the  young  man  seems  prone  to  the  social 
sin?  His  father  has  always  seemed  upright,  and  his  mother  is  re 
garded  as  a  model  of  purity.  To  be  sure,  the  grandfather  sowed  wild 
oats,  and  it  is  charged  that  a  great— great— grandmother  was  born  out 
of  wedlock,  but  that  was  generations  ago  and  this  young  man  has  never 
heard  those  family  scandals  of  a  hundred  years  past. 

It  is  well,  if  his  ears  have  never  listened  to  such  unhappy  stories. 
His  parents  were  wise  in  withholding  them  from  his  knowledge.  Alas! 
while  they  could  easily  keep  the  family  skeleton  in  the  closet  and  spare 
their  son  the  humiliation  of  such  ugly  tales  they  could  not  so  easily 
purify  and  change  the  blood  that  coursed  in  their  veins;  hence  we  see 
the  son,  in  spite  of  fine  precept  and  example,  on  the  downward  grade 
in  his  social  tendencies. 

Again,  they  say  this  young  man  is  not  very  strong.  His  mother 
fears  he  is  going  into  consumption.  The  father  says:  " Have  no  fears 
along  that  line,  my  dear,  for  there  is  no  consumption  in  my  family  nor 
in  yours.  No  danger  of  that,  although  somehow  our  son  is  rather 
frail!" 

That  red  hair  is  hard  to  account  for,  but,  no  doubt,  this  head  is  an  ex 
act  reproduction  of  one  in  the  same  family  generations  ago.  It  may  be 
so  far  back,  indeed,  that  no  living  person  remembers  having  heard  of 
the  peculiarity.  In  the  same  silent  way  influences  which  affect  the 
morals  and  the  health  of  the  boy  have  been  handed  down. 

How  rarely  in  the  every  day  ordering  of  our  lives  do  we  give  any 
attention  to  that  silent,  but  powerful,  thing  known  as  heredity! 
Although  its  power  cannot  be  confined  in  time  to  the  earthly  life  of 
man,  nor  in  social  contact  to  any  one  race,  as  long  as  we  are  not  re 
minded  in  some  very  forcible  or  unpleasant  way  of  its  effects,  we 


38  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    J,IFK. 

scarcely  think  of  its  operations.  At  any  rate,  the  thought  expended 
upon  it  rarely  ripens  into  such  action  as  will  regulate  its  influence. 

In  respect  to  time  the  force  of  heredity  cannot  be  checked  by  a 
generation.  We  are  to-day  reaping  what  was  sown,  not  by  our  fathers 
alone,  but  by  their  fathers  and  grandfathers.  "  Unto  the  third  and 
fourth  generation  of  them  "  was  the  decree  thundered  from  Mt.  Sinai 
by  the  voice  of  Almighty  God. 

There  can  be  no  suspending  of  the  influences  of  heredity  until  the 
human  soul  has  had  sufficient  development  to  appreciate  responsibili 
ties  ;  until  it  wills  to  be  shaped  by  this  or  by  that  influence.  No, 
there  is  no  choice!  Before  the  body  is  ready  to  begin  life  as  a  separate 
being,  as  a  new  personality,  it  is  molded  and  cast  by  the  combined 
traits  of  the  father  and  the  mother  from  whom  this  new  creature  must 
draw  its  individual  existence.  And  the  intellectual  and  ethical  cast 
will  follow  as  closely  the  law,  "  Like  begets  like,"  as  will  the  physical. 
We  do  not  expect  to  find  the  children  of  white  parentage  having  black 
faces  or  kinky  hair,  nor  the  children  of  black  ancestry  having  fair 
brows,  blue  eyes,  and  flaxen  locks.  It  would  be  just  as  unreasonable 
to  expect  the  intellectual  and  the  ethical  characteristics  of  children  to 
be  radically  unlike  those  of  their  ancestors  as  it  would  be  to  expect 
their  physical  features  to  be  radically  different. 

7Tis  true  that  the  progeny  of  some  very  good  parents  are  very  bad 
specimens  of  humanity,  but  such  cases  must  be  like  our  boy's  red  hair 
which  fell  to  him  despite  the  fact  that  no  other  such  head  had  ever  been 
seen  in  that  family.  In  both  cases  the  results  came  through  blood. 
Both  the  red  hair  and  the  weak  or  vicious  character  were  transmitted. 
Probably  through  a  long  stream  of  blood,  but  we  must  know  that 
neither  came  as  a  matter  of  chance.  The  one  was  just  as  much  a  leg 
acy  as  the  other. 

Placing  an  inheritance  is  often  difficult  for  the  reason  that  it  may 
be  the  result  of  complex  causes  and  combined  forces. 

Possibly  no  one  in  the  preceding  generations  had  red  hair,  but  there 
must  have  been  sufficient  in  the  aggregate  of  that  kind  of  pigment  to 
produce  one  such  head  in  the  family;  This  same  principle  of  trans 
mission  applies  to  the  health,  the  brain  and  the  morals  of  the  descend 
ants.  The  exact  ailment  of  body  or  malady  of  mind  may  not  In- 
traceable  to  any  one  source,  but  it  has  been  handed  down. 


SECOND    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE.  39 

Legacies  of  money  seem  to  fall  in  most  cases  to  those  who  are  already 
fortunate.  This  may  be  on  the  theory  that  "  To  him  that  hath  shall 
be  given. "  Not  so  with  the  more  enduring  legacies  of  body  and  soul. 
Whether  we  will  or  no  they  come,  and,  like  the  dreaded  bacteria,  fix 
themselves  in  the  most  fertile  soil.  Where  there  is  one  weakness  of 
body  or  mind  another  is  the  more  apt  to  locate  ;  hence,  instead  of 
having  a  general  distribution  of  evil,  it  falls  much  more  heavily  in 
some  places  than  in  others. 

To  no  one  source  more  than  the  conditions  attendant  upon  pregnant 
women  can  the  cause  of  physical  or  moral  evil  be  traced.  The  unborn 
child  draws  its  physical  and  in  large  measure  its  intellectual  and 
ethical  make-up  from  its  father  and  its  mother.  Not  from  the  mother 
alone,  as  many  suppose,  but  from  both. 

Both  parents  contribute  to  the  possibilities  for  health,  good  or  bad, 
and  furnish  the  germs  for  character  creation  and  development  just  as 
certainly  as  they  together  originate  the  physical  life. 

These  are  solemn  truths !  Yet  how  few  people  understand  or  re 
gard  them  !  The  awful  sac  red  ness  of  procreation  has  never  yet 
dawned  upon  any  considerable  proportion  of  mankind. 

Sadly  enough,  the  gratification  of  passion  is  too  often  the  only 
thought,  while  the  result  is  given  little  or  no  consideration.  Too 
many  children  come  into  life  as  mere  accidents.  The  father  is  irri 
tated  at  the  thought  of  an  additional  one  to  work  for.  He  feels  his 
present  family  to  be  quite  as  much  as  he  can  decently  support.  His 
moroseness  is  communicated  to  the  already  regretful  mother,  who  rea 
sons  that  she  is  not  strong  enough,  that  children  worry  her  so  she  can 
not  do  justice  to  those  she  already  has,  that  her  time  and  strength  are 
too  much  divided,  as  she  in  many  cases  is  also  a  bread-winner.  Sad 
plight,  we  see,  for  there  is  reason  in  the  objections  offered.  But  pru 
dential  considerations  come  too  late  to  be  availing.  Just  think  how 
the  innocent  offspring  must  reap  the  evil  effects  of  these  unholy  feel 
ings  and  expressions,  and  all  the  sympathy  that  you  might  have  felt 
for  the  parents  turns  into  disgust,  and  you  exclaim:  "In  Heaven's 
name,  call  your  will  to  the  rescue  and  say,  'God  helping  me,  I  will  not 
thus  prejudice  the  cause  of  my  own  child  I'  ' 

Few  women  seem  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  the  sensitive  embryo 
receives  the  impressions  made  upon  the  mind  of  the  mother.  Very 
strange  thoughtlessness,  as  the  most  ignorant  believe  in  birthmarks 


40  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFE. 

and  everything  that  affects  the  body.     How   is   it   that  they   do  not 
realize  that  a  mind  also  is  being  created  ? 

All  parents  love  their  children  and  most  love  them  to  the  very  best 
of  their  understanding.  Because  of  this  love,  which  we  believe  to  be 
the  strongest  known  to  the  human  breast,  most  parents  are  willing  to 
be  taught  what  is  best  for  their  offspring. 

In  making  effort  to  give  uplift  to  the  vitality  of  the  Xegro  race  the 
best  work  needs  to  be  put  into  the  enlightenment  of  present  and  pro 
spective  parenthood.  Not  necessarily  into  general  and  extended 
learning,— that  is  more  or  less  impracticable,-but  the  claims  of  prenatal 
and  hereditary  influences  need  to  be  brought  to  the  direct  and  intelli 
gent  consideration  of  all  classes. 

In  the  women's  meetings  and  in  the  men's  meetings  equally  there 
should  be  set  forth  in  a  plain  way  the  important  teachings  of  science 
on  this  important  subject.  This  instruction  may  be  set  forth  in  such 
language  as  the  occasion  demands  and  the  instructor  chooses  to  employ, 
but,  above  all,  let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that  the  development  of 
germ  life  depends  upon  the  original  germ  and  equally  upon  the  cul 
ture  and  treatment  of  that  germ: — in  short,  teach  that  the  prenatal  de 
velopment  of  a  child  depends  largely  upon  whatever  affects  the  mother. 
If  the  pregnant  woman  is  constantly  wishing  that  her  unborn  child 
were  dead  or  that  the  man  who  has  given  her  this  burden, — as  she  has 
learned  in  her  chagrin  to  regard  the  child, — were  dead ;  who  can  won 
der  that  out  of  such  murderous  thought  there  should  come  in  very 
truth  a  murderer ! 

Should  the  material  wants  of  the  mother  be  denied  her  to  such  an 
extent  that  she  feels  the  necessity  and  yields  to  the  temptation  of  sup 
plying  them  by  theft  or  by  prostitution  who  shall  think  it  strange  that 
her  child  should  be  a  thief  or  prostitute  ?  If  the  father  is  a  drunkard 
the  son  is  apt  to  be  a  drunkard. 

Criminals  are  often  made  years  and  years  before  they  are  sentenced 
to  prison.  Alas !  too  often  made  criminal  before  they  are  born. 

The  body  may  come  into  life  as  sorely  doomed  as  the  mind,  unable 
to  resist  the  ordinary  diseases  incident  to  childlife,  because  of  the  mauy 
neglects  and  abuses  of  the  bodies  of  parents.  This  is  very  wrong:  very 
unfair  to  the  child  and  in  many  ways  very  hard  on  parents- 

The  creation  of  a  strong  public  sentiment  on  these  subjects  seems  to 
be  an  imperative  necessity. 


SKOONI)    ANNUAL    CONFKUKNI.IK,  41 

THE  CARE  OF  NEGLECTED  CHILDREN. 

BY     liKV.    .10SKPII     K.    SMITH    (7H),    <J1I ATTANOO<J A,  TKNN. 


[NOTK:  fc'or  confirmation  of  the  facts  stated  by  Mr.  Smith,  see  table  7  of  appen 
dix  A.  showing  the  proportion  of  families  partially  or  wholly  supported  by  women. 
The  enforced  absence  of  the  mothers  from  their  homes  will  remain  a  vital  factor  in 
the  problem  for  many  years  to  come,  being  due  to  industrial  conditions  which  will 
change  slowly.  Mr.  Smith's  recommendations  are  therefore  timely.— El>.] 

"  Seest  tliou  not  what  they  do  in  the-  cities  .  .  .  and  in  the  streets?  " 
I  desire  to  call  attention  to  some  of  the  daily  scenes  in  our  streets  and 
the  lessons  which  they  teach.  The  streets  of  a  city  are  the  exhibition  halls 
of  its  citizens.  Walking  through  these  public  halls  all  phases  and  con 
ditions  of  life  may  be  seen,  and  the  character  and  civilization  of  its  peo 
ple  judged.  Most  pleasing  and  inspiring  evidences  of  well  ordered 
and  happy  home  life  appear  on  the  one  hand;  while  on  the  other  hand 
many  and  sad  are  the  evidences  of  no  order,  no  home  life  and  no  hap 
piness  for  a  large  number  of  people. 

It  is  of  this  imperative  need, — orderly  home  life  and  training, — as 
evidenced  by  street  and  prison  scenes,  that  I  shall  now  more  particu 
larly  speak. 

One  of  the  first  scenes  in  our  streets  between  the  hours  of  five  and 
.six  o'clock  in  the  morning  is,  large  numbers  of  women  rushing  to  their 
places  of  work  for  the  day.  About  eight  o'clock  at  night  they  return 
to  their  homes.  Many  of  these  women  are  mothers  with  from  one  to 
eight  and  often  more  children.  Unwillingly  these  mothers  leave  their 
children  all  day  and  part  of  the  night  in  the  place  they  call  home,  all 
alone  to  care  for  themselves.  If  they  are  awake,  just  before  the  mother 
leaves,  as  is  usually  the  case,  she  gives  them  hastily  what  she  may  hap 
pen  to  have  for  their  breakfast,  sometimes  a  piece  of  bread,  sometimes 
it  is  a  little  molasses  in  a  tin  plate  or  old  bucket  top,  around  which  the 
little  ones  all  gather  and  each  in  his  turn  dips  in  his  lingers  and  licks 
them  off  until  all  the  molasses  is  gone.  To  this  sweetness  the  mother 
:ulds  many  sweet  promises  of  great  things  for  them  if  they  will  be  good 
and  8tav  at  "home  until  mama  comes  back  at  night.  Then  with  great 


42  STUDY    OF    NEGRO   CITY    LIFE. 

anxiety  and  confusion  she  tears  herself  away  from  them  and  hastens 
to  her  work  while  they  cry  for  her  to  come  back,  and  often  they  are 
quarreling  and  fighting  among  themselves  before  she  is  out  of  sight. 
No  one  but  a  mother  knows  how  painful  it  is  to  leave  her  children  all 
alone  under  these  unfortunate  circumstances,  but  there  is  nothing  else 
for  her  to  do  but  to  go,  and  go  she  does  with  an  aching  heart. 

It  is  not  long  after  the  mother  is  gone  before  the  children,  being 
left  to  themselves,  leave  the  house,  go  into  the  streets,  wander  about 
at  will  from  place  to  place,  get  into  mischief  and  commit  sin,  often 
taking  little  things  from  people's  houses  without  realizing  that  they 
have  done  wrong.  They  ramble  about  until  tired,  fall  down  at  almost 
any  place,  go  to  sleep,  and  wake  up  again  only  to  continue  the  ramble, 
sometimes  until  late  in  the  night. 

The  anxious  mother  comes  home  at  night  to  find  that  her  chil 
dren  are  not  there.  She  does  not  know  where  they  are  and  starts 
out  in  the  dark  to  look  for  them  in  the  streets.  Often  she  finds  them 
in  the  city  jail  or  station  house,  having  beeu  arrested  by  some  officer 
during  the  day  or  early  night  for  committing  some  little  crime.  Chief 
Hill  of  the  police  force  of  Chattanooga  says :  "  They  are  brought  in 
the  patrol  wagon  to  the  station  house  by  the  dozen  at  the  time.  Ask 
them  where  their  parents  are  and  they  will  say, '  Dead,  or  at  work,  or 
away  from  home  somewhere.'  ? 

Such  is  a  faint  representation  of  a  part  of  that  which  is  going  on  in 
our  streets  every  day,  and  we  need  only  to  multiply  the  days  and  we 
have  the  awful  record  of  years.  Growing  up  in  the  midst  of  such 
daily  surroundings  and  influences  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  large 
numbers  of  our  young  people  find  their  way  to  the  chain-gang  and 
work  house  ? 

There  are  hundreds  and  thousands  of  our  children  at  this  very  hour 
who  are  roaming  about  at  large  in  the  streets  of  our  cities  because  they 
have  had  no  orderly  home  life  or  training;  growing  up  in  the  streets 
their  idea  of  living  is  such  as  they  get  from  the  worse  side  of  street 
life,  and  the  inevitable  result  must  be  crime,  prison  and  the  gallows. 
And  the  saddest  thing  about  all  of  this  is,  that  unless  under  the  providence 
of  God  a  preventive  is  found,  this  most  appalling  state  of  society 
must  continue  growing  worse  each  day  to  the  end  of  time. 

Is  it  possible   to  so  reenforce  the   home  as  to  save  society  and  the 


SECOND    AXMJAL    L'ONFEKENCE.  43 

state  this  awful  menace?  I  believe  it  is  possible  and  practicable, 
The  "  Day  Nursery  "  and  education  as  reenforcements  to  the  home 
furnish  the  preventive. 

The  greatest  need  of  Negro  children  is  the  right  kind  of  home  life 
and  training.  It  is  a  most  encouraging  truth  that  many  of  our  people 
have  neat,  modest,  virtuous  homes,  and  their  children,  being  reared 
under  intelligent  and  safe  motherly  influences,,  are  growing  up  virtuous 
and  modest,  trustworthy  and  usefuL  These  children  are  not  candi^ 
dates  for  crime,  disease  and  prison,  but  for  a  worthy  and  useful  citizen 
ship.  While  this  number  is  small  when  compared  to  the  masses,  yet 
it  is  large  enough  to  show  what  can  be  done  by  that  all-important 
agency,  the  home.  The  day  nursery,  as  a  supplement  to  the  home, 
is  the  most  urgent  need  of  the  great  masses  of  Negro  children.  Says 
Mrs.  Dodge  in  the  Outlook;  "If  the  child  is  father  to  the  man,  then 
the  influences  which  surround  him  during  childhood  have  the  greatest 
effect  upon  his  after-life,  and  the  day  nursery  is,  therefore,  the 
foundation  upon  which  to  build  the  structure  of  character;  for,  taking 
the  child  in  his  earliest  years,  often  indeed  in  earliest  infancy,  nursery 
training  is  the  first  in  the  chain  of  educational  influences  which  aid 
the  state  in  making  the  useful  citizen,  this  influence  holding  sway 
over  his  mind  and  heart  on  through  the  kindergarten  period,  through 
the  public  school,  and  over  the  threshold  into  the  whirl  of  life's  exa 


acting  activities/' 


If  day  nurseries  can  be  established  in  the  cities  and  the  little 
ones  gathered  from  the  streets  into  them ;  soap  and  fresh  water,  comb 
and  brush  freely  and  effectually  used ;  a  clean  little  garment  furnished 
for  a  clean  little  body,  and  some  wholesome  food  for  a  hungry  little 
stomach ;  clean  thoughts  put  into  the  little  mind  and  heart ;  lessons 
of  sympathy,  kindness,  honesty,  industry,  hope  and  self-respect  taught; 
—if  these  things  can  be  done  for  all  Negro  children  deprived  of  home 
training  a  long  and  very  effectual  step  will  be  taken  toward  reducing 
crime,  disease  and  premature  death. 


44  STIiDY    OF    NFXJRO    CITY     LIFE. 

THE  NEED  OF  FRIENDLY  VISITATION. 

BY     RKV.    H.     H.     PROCTOR,    ATLANTA.    (*A . 


An  undertaker  who  within  the  last  ten  years  has  buried  many  of  the 
ten  thousand  of  our  people  who  sleep  in  Southview  cemetery  recently 
made  a  remark  to  me  that  set  me  to  thinking.  I  give  it  to  you  to 
night  with  the  hope  that  it  may  have  the  same  effect  upon  you.  "You 
have  no  idea/7  he  said,  "how  many  people  are  dying  from  the  lack  of 
sympathy. "  This  is  expert  testimony,  and  we  cannot  reject  it. 

I  suspect,  however,  that  the  idea  he  had  in  mind  is  capable  of  a  more 
precise  expression.  There  is  a  wealth  of  sympathy  in  this  world.  It 
is  the  exceptional  heart  that  contains  no  well-spring  of  sympathy. 
The  difficulty  is  not  as  to  the  possession  of  sympathy;  it  is  as  to  its 
expression.  Many  people  are  dying  because  no  one  expresses  any 
sympathy  for  them.  Sympathy  is  like  the  coupon  on  the  railway 
ticket, — not  good  if  detached  !  Prayer  may  be  effective,  though  un 
expressed  ;  but  not  so  with  sympathy. 

There  are  many  ways  of  expressing  this  sympathy  so  as  to  make  it 
effective  in  elevating  the  home  life  of  the  poor.  One  way  is  by  giving 
good  advice  in  an  assembly  like  this.  Another  is  by  contributing 
money  to  be  used  in  judicious  ways.  Both  of  these  are  needed,  but  I 
am  thinking  of  another  way,  which,  while  not  necessarily  independent  of 
these,  is,  I  think,  more  important  than  either.  I  refer  to  friendly  per 
sonal  visitation.  Advice  is  cheap.  We  may  cast  a  coin  at  a  beggar 
to  quiet  a  disturbing  conscience.  But  to  give  ourselves, — that  is  the 
gift  that  costs.  To  go  into  the  homes  of  the  people  and,  as  did  Philip 
with  the  eunuch,  to  sit  with  them,  costs  more  than  to  make  an  address 
or  contribute  a  quarter.  And  yet  that  is  to  my  mind  the  only  solu 
tion  of  this  great  sociological  problem.  We  must  come  into  personal 
touch  with  the  masses. 

To  this  some  will  put  in  objections.  Will  not  these  people  presume 
upon  our  social  reserve?  Will  not  the  upper  class  be  dragged  down 
by  contact  with  the  lower?  These  questions  are  not  unnatural.  They 
demand  a  reasonable  answer.  To  the  first  objection  I  would  say  that 


«E<  ONI)    ANNTA'L    CONFERENCE.  45 

there  is  not  the  least  danger  of  the  plainest  people  mistaking  our 
kindly  interest  for  an  invitation  to  our  private  social  functions.  The 
plain  people  have  wonderfully  keen  instincts.  To  the  other  I  would 
say  that  it  is  not  contact  with  the  lower  element  that  injures  the  higher  ; 
it  is  the  kind  of  contact.  The  distinction  is  vital.  "He  is  armed 
without  who  is  innocent  within."  Virtue  is  its  possessor's  shield.  The 
immaculate  swan  conies  unspotted  from  the  vilest  sewer. 

If  you  would  elevate  a  building  you  would  not  apply  pulleys  at  the 
top.  You  would  put  jackscrews  under  the  mudsills.  You  cannot 
elevate  society  by  lifting  from  the  top;  you  must  put  the  jackscrews 
under  the  mudsills  of  society.  Put  the  unfailing  dynamics  of  friendly 
visitation  under  the  homes  of  the  poor  and  the  whole  people  will  rise 
a  living,  an  exalted  temple  before  God, 


46  STUDY    OF    NEGKO   CITY    LIFE. 


CAUSES  OF  CONSUMPTION,  AND  PRACTICAL  METHODS 
OF  PREVENTING  IT. 

P,Y    A.    J.    LOVE,    M.D.,    CHATTANOOGA,    TENN, 


Mr.  President :  Thinking  as  I  do  that  the  specific  treatment  of 
tuberculosis  does  not  come  before  us  for  consideration  at  this  meeting,, 
I  shall  not  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  late  discoveries  for  the  radi 
cal  cure  of  consumption. 

In  presenting  to  you  this  paper  on  a  subject  about  which  so  much 
has  been  written  and  concerning  the  solution  of  which  so  many  the 
ories  have  been  advanced,  I  shall  speak  more  from  a  practical  than 
from  a  theoretical  standpoint. 

That  tuberculosis  is  a  germ  disease  is  no  longer  disputed.  But  a 
practical  means  of  destroying  this  bacillus  is  the  vexatious  question  of 
to-day. 

To  rightly  understand  some  of  the  means  of  checking  and  prevent 
ing  the  growth  of  consumption  we  must  first  know  some  of  its  predis 
posing  as  well  as  some  of  its  exciting  causes. 

A  predisposition  to  tuberculosis  is  inherited.  Not  that  the  infant  is 
born  with  the  germ  fully  developed  in  his  system,  but  being  born  of 
tuberculous  parents  he  inherits  a  condition  favorable  to  the  develop 
ment  of  the  disease.  He  is  of  an  inferior  physique,  usually  slender, 
emaciated,  nervous,  easily  exhausted,  has  a  low  or  deformed  chest,  his 
blood  is  poor  in  quality,  he  is  susceptible  to  colds,  and  subject  to  bron 
chial  catarrh  and  cough.  The  alimentary  canal  is  one  of  the  most 
vulnerable  points  in  his  anatomy.  The  digestion  is  so  feeble  that  the 
mildest  diet  is  sometimes  harmful.  And  yet,  with 'all  this,  he  is  bright- 
eyed,  intelligent  and  hopeful. 

There  is  an  intimate  relation  between  consumption  and  scrofula, 
which  is  likewise  a  disease  of  degenerative  tissue  metamorphosis., 
Whether  there  is  a  direct  relation  between  these  two  diseases  or  not,  is 
perhaps  yet  to  be  demonstrated,  but  the  clinical  fact  that  tuberculous 
and  strumous  diatheses  are  almost  alwrays  found  in  the  same  subjects 
cannot  be  denied.  That  the  tissues  of  scrofulous  subjects  are  wanting 


SECOND    ANNUAL    (CONFERENCE.  47 

in  vital  power  is  apparent  from  their  great  tendency  to  suppurate. 
Bartholow  says  that  the  tubercle  is  a  product  of  scrofula,  which  would 
indicate  that  the  same  cause  which  produces  scrofulosis  would,  through 
the  process  of  pathological  evolution,  produce  tuberculosis. 

Is  tuberculosis  possible  in  a  subject  who  has  not  the  unfortunate 
legacy  of  a  tubercular  diathesis?  To  my  mind  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  affirmative  of  this  is  true.  The  child  born  of  healthy 
parents,  but  who  is  reared  in  the  slums  of  a  densely  populated  city, 
housed  in  a  miserable  hut  in  the  alley,  forced  to  sleep  in  a  crowded 
apartment  where  the  atmosphere  is  necessarily  damp  and  virulent, 
both  from  the  effluvia  rising  from  the  decomposing  excreta  from  the 
bodies  of  its  many  inmates  and  from  the  vitiated  gases  exhaled  from 
their  lungs,  who  sleeps  in  the  garments  which  he  wears  through  many 
weary  days,  who  goes  for  months  without  knowing  the  civilizing, 
Christianizing  and  cleansing  influence  of  the  bath,  whose  food  is  im 
properly  cooked  and  wanting  both  in  quality  and  quantity,  and  con 
cerning  the  hour  of  whose  meals  there  is  no  regularity,  will  almost 
surely  present  early  symptoms  of  decay. 

That  constitution  which  at  the  outset  was  physiologically  perfect 
has  gradually  degenerated  into  one  with  inferior  vital  tendencies.  The 
morbific  influences  of  his  surroundings  have  wrought  upon  him  a 
molecular  modification  of  the  tissues,  which  undergo  a  low  grade  of 
inflammation  and  glandular  suppuration.  This,  with  its  catalogue  of 
pathological  possibilities,  is  scrofulosis.  This  fruitful  soil  is  the  rende- 
vous  for  bacteria  of  every  morbid  turn  of  mind.  The  cells  having  lost 
their  vital  resistance,  the  system  becomes  an  easy  prey  to  disease. 
Here  the  tubercle  bacillus  finds  a  suitable  pabulum  on  which  to  subsist, 
and  amid  such  unfavorable  surroundings  our  subject  of  unfortunate  cir 
cumstances  will  almost  inevitably  succumb  to  this  disease.  But  even  if 
at  this  period  he  should  not  himself  be  overtaken  by  tuberculosis,  still 
this  marked  tendency  of  constitution  will  gradually  become  permanent 
and  capable  of  hereditary  transmission.  Thus  the  succeeding  genera 
tions  of  all  such  individuals  have  a  natural  predisposition  to  tuberculosis, 
as  also  to  many  other  diseases  which  are  superinduced  by  malnutri 
tion. 

Drunkenness  in  parents   predisposes  to   consumption   in    their   off 
spring,   because  of  the  fact  that  they  transmit  to  them  the  toxological 


48  STtTT>V    OF    NKOKO    CITY    MFfc. 

effects  of  alcoholism,  producing-  a  general  deterioration  of  nutrition, 
and  because  of  semi-starvation  due  to  neglect  on  the  part  of  these 
parents  while  under  the  influence  of  alcohol.  For  it  is  a  painful  fact 
that  mothers  in  the  lower  classes,  as  well  as  fathers, are  becoming:  more 
and  more  addicted  to  strong  drink,  and  that  these  unfortunate  chil 
dren  are  allowed  to  go  for  many  hours  without  nourishment. 

Puberty,  with  its  attending  susceptibility  to  consumption,  is  a  crit 
ical  period,  The  system,  while  undergoing  the  important  changes  of 
maturity,  is  ill-prepared  to  defend  itself  against  extraneous  patholog 
ical  factors.  This  period  ends  the  career  of  many  youth,  who  in  their 
infancy  were  fed  on  artificial  food  instead  of  mother's  milk.  That 
this  has  a  baneful  influence  on  the  constitution  during  a  lifetime,  the 
emaciated  frames  of  these  unfortunate  subjects  will  attest.  Those  ar 
ticles  of  diet  which  purport  to  be  elegant  substitutes  for  mothers' milk 
are  wanting  in  both  nutrition  and  digestibility.  Though  they  have 
the  elements  necessary  for  development  and  growth  the  ratio  of  these 
elements  is  not  in  keeping  with  the  natural  formula  of  mothers'  milk 
and  a  dyspeptic  condition  is  induced  which  leads  to  marasmus,  scrof- 
ulosis,  tuberculosis,  and  death. 

It  is  a  prevalent  idea  that  tuberculosis  is  transmissible  by  touch,  and 
that  inhalations  of  effluvia  emanating  from  the  skin  of  tuberculous 
subjects  will  reproduce  the  disease.  This,  however,  is  untrue. 

The  most  frequent  cause  of  the  direct  transmission  of  tuberculosis 
is  the  inhalation  of  the  bacillus  arising  from  dried  and  pulverized 
sputum.  Hence  the  danger  of  living  in  houses  recently  occupied  by 
consumptives,  They  frequently  spit  upon  the  walls  or  the  floor,  and 
the  bed-clothing  and  wearing  apparel  become  contaminated  with 
sputum,  which,  when  dry  and  broken  into  small  particles,  is  subject  to 
inhalation.  While  it  is  true  that  this  virus  is  of  a  greater  specific 
gravity  than  air  and  therefore  has  a  tendency  to  fall  to  the  floor,  yet 
sweeping  and  dusting  will  raise  it,  at  which  time  it  may  be  inhaled 
and  become  a  nucleus  around  which  is  built  that  insidious  and  yet  ag 
gressive  foe. 

As  long  as  the  germ  is  kept  suspended  in  fluid  it  is  less  liable  to 
cause  infection,  for  as  moisture  increases  its  specific  gravity  it  cannot 
fioat  in  the  atmosphere  #nd  therefore  cannot  be  inhaled. 

In  order  for  this  bacillus  to  find  a  lodging  place  in  the  human  econ- 


SECOND    ANNUAL    (JOPftfERKNCiti,  49 

otny,  there  must  be  a  dissolution  of  continuity  in  the  mucous  membrane. 
For  in  a  healthy  condition  it  is  not  liable  to  infection.  It  is  here 
that  these  bronchial  catarrhs  and  colds  cut  such  a  distinguishing  figure ; 
for  a  catarrh  indicates  that  violence  has  been  done  to  the  integrity  of 
a  mucous  membrane,  destroying  or  impairing  its  protective  power  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  admit  of  inoculation  and  infection.  This  is  the 
second  whirlpool  for  our  predisposed  subject,  for  if  possibly  in  his 
childhood  he  has  steered  clear  of  Scylla  he  has  now  drifted  into  Charyb- 
dis. 

It  is  not  likely,  however,  that  a  subject  with  an  otherwise  healthy 
constitution,  even  though  he  has  a  diseased  mucous  membrane,  will 
become  infected  under  such  circumstances.  For  the  blood  in  such  an 
individual  is  rich  in  the  life-giving  properties  of  the  body  and  the  cells 
are  so  vigorous  as  to  stand  as  a  bulwark  against  an  invading  enemy. 

Tuberculosis  may  also  be  contracted  through  impure  alimentation  ; 
for  it  has  been  clearly  demonstrated  that  cows  are  often  affected  with 
this  disease  and  that  tubercle  bacilli  are  found  in  large  numbers  in 
their  milk. 

When  there  is  a  lesion  in  the  alimentary  tract  virus  may,  because 
of  this,  enter  the  blood  and  induce  both  local  and  constitutional  con 
sumption.  That  this  source  of  infection  is  true  was  proven  a  short 
time  ago  in  a  swine  test.  Of  1,026  healthy  swine  fed  on  sour  whiskey 
and  distillery  slop,  all  were  sickened  and  250  died.  Autopsies  on  104 
showed  tubercle  bacilli.  In  an  adjoining  pen  were  600,  fed  on  good 
sweet  maize.  None  contracted  tuberculosis. 

Persons  whose  foods  are  subject  to  acetic  fermentation  in  the  ali 
mentary  canal  are  liable  to  tuberculosis  through  its  absorption.  In 
those  habituated  to  strong  drink  the  micodermaaceti,  which  is  an  acetic 
ferment,  is  frequently  absorbed  through  the  intestinal  mucous  mem 
brane,  which  is  paralyzed  by  the  presence  of  alcohol,  but  in  the  ab 
sence  of  this  stimulant  this  membrane  is  capable  of  protecting  against 
such  absorption. 

The  death-rate  from  consumption  in  the  United  States  is  appalling. 
But  that  the  spread  of  this  disease  can  be  checked  is  clearly  apparent. 

It  is  the  plain  duty  of  every  city  to  pass  ordinances  prohibiting  its 
inhabitants  from  living  in  squalor  and  dirt ;  prohibiting  the  conver 
sion  of  homes  which  should  be  clean,  wholesome  and  pure,  into  pest 


50  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFE. 

houses  and  laboratories  in  which  are  incubated  every  conceivable  form 
of  virulent  bacteria  :  directing  that  the  premises  of  all  be  keptatall  times 
clean,  that  bedding  and  carpets  be  aired  and  exposed  to  the  sun,  that 
the  houses  be  from  time  to  time  renovated,  that  thorough  ventilation 
be  the  rule  in  every  household. 

While  it  is  a  fact  that  every  family  is  not  able  to  wear  costly  gar 
ments,  yet  every  family  can  wear  clean  ones,  and  have  clean  sur 
roundings. 

Nor  do  I  think  a  course  of  this  kind  impracticable  or  abridging 
personal  rights  ;  for  to  live  in  such  unwholesome  abodes  with  such  un 
healthy  surroundings  is  not  only  damaging  to  those  who  indulge  in 
this  loathsome  practice,  but  is  forever  an  abiding  source  of  infection  to 
the  community.  This  is  a  menace  which  no  municipality  can  brook 
without  becoming  weakened  thereby.  This  is  the  prime  source  of  all 
infectious  diseases,  a  nuisance  to  the  public  because  it  is  in  direct  oppo 
sition  to  the  pursuit  of  health  and  happiness.  A  government  has  the 
same  right  to  protect  its  votaries  from  this  deadly  condition  as  it  has 
to  quarantine  against  smallpox.  For  while  smallpox  is  rapidly  con 
tagious  and  spreads  dread  disaster  in  its  wake,  what  disease  is  more 
terrible  than  consumption,  which  like  the  boa  constrictor  is  stealthily 
winding  itself  around  humanity  and  squeezing  the  life  out  of  the 
nations? 

If  we  would  stamp  out  tuberculosis  we  must  elevate  the  standard 
of  living  among  the  lower  classes.  We  must  save  them  from  them 
selves.  If  we  have  not  educational  facilities  sufficient  to  civilize  them 
fast  enough,  we  must  bring  them  up  to  the  requirements  by  legisla 
tion.  In  my  opinion  the  present  condition  is  too  appalling  to  wait  on 
the  slow  process  of  evolution.  More  vigorous  measures  must  be  taken. 

We  need  a  more  rigid  system  of  food  inspection.  No  animal  should 
be  killed  for  food  without  first  being  scientifically  inspected  and  pro 
nounced  sound.  The  inspection  of  milk  for  tubercle  bacilli  should 
be  made  a  specialty.  Milch  cows  and  animals  to  be  killed  for  meat 
should  not  be  fed  on  impure  foods.  Stale  and  tainted  meats  of  any 
kind  should  not  be  eaten,  for  although  bacteria  for  the  most  part  are 
destroyed  in  the  process  of  cooking,  still  the  decomposition  of  this  ab 
normal  material  in  the  intestines  may  produce  infection,  thus  lessening 
the  vital  resistance  and  paving  the  way  for  consumption. 


SECOND    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE.  51 

VENTILATION, 

BY    H.    H.    BUTLER,    A.M.,   M.D.,  ATLANTA,  <JA, 


[NOTE:    Dr.  Butlers  paper  included  also  the  subjects  of  Exercise  and  Physical  De 
velopment.  But  in  this  case,  as  also  in  others, we  have  felt  obliged  to  abbreviate.-  ED.] 


In  the  homes  of  the  most  ignorant  of  our  people,  and  some  of  the 
intelligent  for  that  matter,  ventilation  is  an  unknown  quantity.  The  in 
mates  are  opposed  to  having  air  enter  the  house  when  all  are  well,  and 
if  any  of  the  family  are  sick  it  is  believed  that  it  means  death  to  the 
patient  should  air,  and  in  some  cases  light,  enter  the  sick  chamber. 

I  will  not  enter  into  a  description  of  the  various  methods  of  venti 
lation  ;  we  have  not  the  time  for  such  here.  I  will  simply  give  you  a 
few  of  the  many  cases  that  have  come  under  ray  observation  in  which 
ventilation  was  much  needed. 

Case  1.— This  first  case  to  which  1  wish  to  call  your  attention  was 
in  a  one-room  house;  room  14x14;  inmates,  four.  It  was  a  case  of 
confinement.  The  room  was  as  dark  and  the  air  as  foul  at  twelve 
o'clock  in  the  day  as  it  was  at  twelve  at  night.  I  had  to  use  a  small 
tin  lamp  at  either  hour  in  order  to  see  how  to  care  for  my  patient. 

Case  2. — It  was  in  a  small  basement  room  where  a  mother  and  two 
amall  children  lay  sick,  nigh  unto  death.  The  door  and  window  had 
been  closed  for  weeks.  The  air  was  foul,  damp  and  heavy.  There 
they  were  with  no  friends,  no  water,  no  food,  and  no  pure  air.  There 
they  lay  until  found  by  some  good  women  who  sent  the  mother  to  the 
poor-house,  one  child  to  the  hospital  where  it  died,  and  the  other  to 
the  Carrie  Steele  Orphans'  Home,  where  it  is  recovering  slowly.  The 
mother  is  well  and  has  returned  to  the  city  and  is  at  work.  Both 
mother  and  child,  however,  show  signs  of  tuberculosis,  which  are  no 
doubt  the  result  of  inhaling  the  foul  air  of  that  basement  room, 

Case  3. — I  manage  to  visit  the  public  schools  of  the  city  at  least 
once  a  year.  I  visited  one  of  these  schools  this  year  in  which  every 
thing  else  was  taught  and  practiced  but  ventilation.  The  air  in  some 
of  the  rooms  of  that  building  was  not  at  all  conducive  to  good  health. 


52  STUDY    OF    NKUKO    CITY    LIFE. 

Case  4. — It  was  a  two-room  house;  inmates,  two, — a  man  and  his 
wife.  The  husband  lay  dying  with  consumption  and  would,  in  his 
delirium,  spit  any  and  every  where.  The  wife,  who  was  a  kind  and 
tidy  woman,  did  all  in  her  power,  under  the  circumstances,  to  keep  her 
little  home  clean.  To  do  this  she  was  continually  sweeping,  in  which 
process  she  kept  bacilli  on  the  move,  endangering  not  only  her  hen  1th 
but  my  health  and  the  health  of  all  her  friends  who  might  call. 

Being  a  woman  of  some  intelligence  a  brief  explanation  that  she 
must  keep  the  air  of  the  room  fresh  and  free  from  dust  was  all  that 
was  necessary  to  have  her  see  the  danger.  I  then  began  to  care  for 
my  patient  hygiemcally  and  antiseptically. 

Thus  I  could  go  on  and  multiply  case  after  case  to  show  the  great 
necessity  of  a  better  understanding  among  our  people  concerning  ven 
tilation  ;  but  it  is  not  necessary.  We  all  are  satisfied  that  much  im 
provement  is  needed  in  our  homes  along  those  lines  and  that  is  why 
we  are  here. 

Preaching  the  laws  of  health  and  hygiene  in  this  age  has  about  the 
same  effect  that  preaching  the  gospel  has.  They  hear  willingly,  but 
heed  slowly.  Many  hear,  but  only  a  few  will  believe  ;  a  few  will  be 
saved  and  many  will  be  lost. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  ask  that  this  organization  petition  Congress 
to  make  an  appropriation  to  help  push  forward  this  well-begun  work. 

With  that  aid  we  would  be  able  to  place  one  or  two  physicians  in 
every  large  city,  at  least,  whose  duty  it  would  be  to  push  these  inves 
tigations,  and  as  they  would  go  from  home  to  home  they  could  in 
struct  the  people  as  to  ventilation  and  in  the  laws  of  health  and  hy 
giene.  This  is,  indeed,  necessary  if  we  wish  to  have  the  masses  in 
structed  in  those  things  that  are  indispensable  in  order  to  have  strong 
and  healthy  bodies  as  well  as  strong  and  vigorous  minds. 


SECOND    ANNUAL   CONFERENCE. 

THE  CARE  OF  THE  TEETH  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO 

HEALTH. 

BY  ,1.  R.  PORTER  ('80),  D,D.S.,  ATLANTA.  GA. 


In  working  out  our  health  problems  \ve  often  fail  to  recognize 
certain  factors  which  are  highly  important.  We  hardly  ever  fig 
ure  on  the  effect  of  diseased  teeth  on  the  general  health,  and  their 
permanent  handicap  on  our  energies.  Many  a  trouble  that  has  been 
assigned  to  some  remote  cause,  and  that  has  called  forth  learned  dis 
quisitions,  should  have  been  placed  at  the  door  of  some  abscessed 
tooth  of  long  standing,  and  the  diagnosis  punctuated  with  the 
forceps. 

Many  a  case  of  facial  neuralgia  is  the  progeny  of  uncared-for  teeth. 
Many  an  injured  eye  owes  all  its  troubles  to  the  root  of  some  offending 
tooth  that  reaches  the  floor  of  its  orbit  by  using  the  Antrum  of 
Hymore  as  a  go-between  ;  while  fever,  hysteria,  muscular  neuralgia 
and  apparent  heart  trouble,  that  are  plainly  due  to  these  unclean 
members,  are  not  infrequently  met  with. 

There  are  two  classes  of  evils  that  may  arise  as  a  result  of  diseased 
tooth  tissue  :  those  that  come  from  actual  contact  with  the  poisonous 
matter  generated  in  the  affected  member,  and  those  that  result  from 
the  constant  irritation  of  the  nerve  tissues. 

Each  one  of  these  may  be  serious  in  its  consequences,  and  may 
force  upon  us  evils  that  will  run  their  allotted  third  and  fourth  gen 
eration,  or  may  leave  permanent  marks  on  our  physical  appearance 
and  health. 

Lessons  should  be  taught  in  the  schools  on  the  care  of  the  teeth,  as 
well  as  of  other  portions  of  the  body.  People  do  not  neglect  treat 
ing  a  fever,  removing  a  splinter  or  caring  for  a  sprain,  and  yet  they 
pass  unnoticed  these  long-suffering  members,  until  one  of  them,  after 
long  endurance,  suddenly  wakes  them  to  a  sense  of  their  duty. 

There  is  a  truth  that  rings  through  the  pages  of  the  Bible,  in  so 
many  forms  and  varieties  that  it  has  become  impressive.  "  Cleanli 
ness  is  next  to  Godliness,"  is  that  truth.  In  it  we  have  our  first 


64  STtJJDV    OF    JSEGKO    CITY    LIFfc, 

lesaon  in  hygiene,  and  around  it  clusters  all  our  physical  and  spiritual! 
comfort. 

There  is  nothing  useless  in  that  sacred  volume,  nothing  written  for 
mere  ornament,  nothing  engrafted  in  the  wonderful  schemes  of  crea 
tion  and  redemption  that  has  not  a  "  because  "  attached  to  it,  and  that 
is  not  a  link  in  God's  economy,  whether  of  man  towards  his  Creator, 
or  of  man  towards  himself. 

This  beautiful  truth  is  therefore  pregnant  with  a  deeper  meaning 
than  is  at  first  apparent.  Not  only  does  it  teach  that  we  should  keep 
the  body  pure  and  clean  as  the  fit  temple  of  the  living  God  ;  but 
more,  it  teaches  that  if  we  would  more  nearly  live  the  allotted  span 
of  human  life,  we  should  recognize  that  cleanliness  is  the  panacea  for 
all  our  ills,  and  that  sanitation,  external  and  internal,  is  our  best  safe 
guard  against  disease* 


SECOND    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE.  55 

ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  WOMEN'S  MEETING. 

BY     MISS    LUCY    C.    I.ANEY  (73),    AUGUSTA,    GA. 


Ladies  :  A  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  this  Ameri 
can  Republic,  after  much  painful  travail,  brought  forth  the  youngest 
child  of"  civilization — the  Negro  citizen.  To-day  we,  the  offspring  of 
that  birth,  stand  upon  the  entrance  of  a  glorious  future  if  we  will  ac 
cept  and  faithfully  comply  with  the  conditions  upon  which  we  may 
claim  the  boon. 

To  find  out  and  to  discuss  some  of  these  conditions  is  the  object  of 
this  conference  and  the  women's  section  of  it.  For  a  long  time  many 
were  disposed  to  think  that  the  condition  of  most  importance  was  pol 
itics,  and  for  years  politicians,  honest  and  dishonest,  ignorant  and  wise, 
struggled  in  vain  to  bring  about  that  consummation  devoutly  to  be 
wished,  true  manhood  in  our  race.  Some  vainly  hoped  that  that  mis 
erable  deformity  wrongly  called  education,  viz.,  the  conning  of  a  few 
facts  from  text-books,  was  the  condition  to  be  complied  with.  Still 
another  class  said  honestly  and  devoutly  that  the  condition  and  the 
only  condition  to  be  met  was  the  development  of  our  religious  nature, 
A  fourth  class  united  the  second  and  third  conditions,  and  after  some 
what  modifying  the  third,  gave  to  the  world  as  the  watchword  of 
Negro  development  "  the  Bible  and  the  spelling-book."  Any  one  of 
these  made  the  rule  of  life,  made  the  only  condition  to  be  met,  has  been 
to  those  who  followed  it  an  ignis  fatum,  for  it  has  misguided  them  and 
led  them  into  dangerous  places.  Each  by  itself  is  but  a  part  of  a 
grand  total. 

No  person  is  responsible  for  his  ancestors ;  nor  should  he  be  held 
responsible  for  their  sins  and  short-comings,  though  he  bear  about  in 
his  body  the  marks  and  scars  of  those  sins;  but  every  woman  can  see 
to  it  that  she  gives  to  her  progeny  a  good  mother  and  an  honorable 
ancestry.  I  care  not  how  humble  may  be  the  house  in  which  two  loving 
hearts  may  set  up  their  household  gods,  if  blessed  with  a  manly  and 
God-fearing  husband,  a  womanly  and  God-fearing  wife,  intelligence 
and  health,  that  place  is  a  home,  the  nearest  approach  on  earth  to 


56  STUDY    OF    NEGRO   CITY    LlFtt. 

0  heaven.  The  chief  joy  of  home  is  mother.  You  may  place  upon  the 
brow  of  a  true  mother  the  greenest  laurel  or  you  may  give  into  her 
keeping  the  highest  civic  honors,  but  these  to  her  will  be  found  want 
ing  if  weighed  in  a  balance  over  against  her  home.  To  her  the  bless 
edness  of  motherhood  is  the  greatest  joy,  a  crown  more  costly  than 
pearls  of  royalty. 

Marriage,  the  beginning  of  home,  is  a  matter  of  great  importance 
and  should  not  be  carelessly  entered  into.  It  is  the  place  to  take  the 
proverbial  stitch  in  time.  From  this  point  a  shadow  may  be  cast 
which  will  darken  the  pathway  of  coming  generations.  This  is  not  a 
question  that  can  be  settled  on  a  basis  of  gain  or  convenience,  but  as 
has  been  said:  "  A  tie  that  only  love  and  truth  should  weave  and  noth 
ing  but  death  should  part." 

Motherhood,  honored  by  our  blessed  Master,  is  the  crown  of  woman 
hood.  This  gives  her  not  only  interest  in  the  home  and  society,  but 
also  authority.  She  should  be  interested  in  the  welfare  of  her  own  and  her 
neighbors'  children.  To  woman  has  been  committed  the  responsibility 
of  making  the  laws  of  society,  making  environments  for  children. 
She  has  the  privilege  and  authority,  God-given,  to  help  develop  into 
a  noble  man  or  woman  the  young  life  committed  to  her  care.  There 
is  no  nobler  work  entrusted  to  the  hands  of  mortals, 

Faithful  mothers,  mothers  who  know  their  duty  and  perform  it, — 
such  must  have  been  the  mother  of  the  Gracchi, — -such  a  mother  we 
read  of  in  holy  writ:  "  All  nations  shall  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed." 

Will  not  the  intelligent  mother  gather  to  her  heart  her  sons  and 
daughters  and  teach  them  to  be  pure  in  life  and  chaste  in  conversation, 
and  see  to  it  that  there  be  no  double  standard  set  up  in  her  home,  and 
none  in  her  community  if  she  be  able  to  tear  it  down? 

Too  often  that  mother  who  is  careful  of  her  daughter's  environ 
ment,  the  formation  of  her  girl's  character,  is  negligent  as  to  her  son's. 
He  may  choose  his  own  company, — be  the  molder  of  his  own  character. 
If  the  daughter  should  drag  the  robes  of  her  womanhood  in  the  dust 
that  mother  would  be  covered  with  shame  and  grief, — but  the  son  of 
that  mother  may  trample  down  his  manhood  and  there  will  scarcely 
be  a  blush  ;  only  the  old  but  false  cry,  and  pernicious  as  it  is  false, 
"  Boys  must  sow  their  wild  oats." 

Our  bovs  need  the  careful,  loving  hand  of  mother  ;  perhaps  not  more 


SECOND    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE.  57 

8«>  than  the  girls — but  certainly  not  less. 

Shall  the  boys  be  left  to  the  tender  training  of  the  saloons  and  the 
fascinations  of  women  degraded  by  sin  ?  God  forbid  it !  Women  of 
to-day,  awake  to  your  responsibilities  and  privileges. 

The  Mothers'  Congress  recently  held  at  Washington  was  not  only  a 
most  unique  gathering,  but  as  the  years  roll  on  and  men  and  women 
study  more  carefully  that  most  important  of  all  questions, — the  chil 
dren  of  the  nation, — it  will  be  found  to  be  the  working  out  of  the 
noblest  ideas  of  the  noblest  minds  and  most  loving  hearts  of  the  age. 
That  vast  assemblage  of  men  and  women  discussing  questions  most 
vital  to  the  welfare  of  their  children  shows  how  great  is  the  lamenta 
tion  in  Rama,  Rachel  weeping  for  her  children,  refusing  to  be  com 
forted  because  they  are  not. 

Shall  we  not  catch  inspiration  from  that  Congress  and  in  our  literary 
societies,  ladies'  clubs,  and  even  in  our  churches  study  our  children  by 
the  search-light  of  the  new  psychology  and  with  the  spirit  of  the  true 
and  loving  mother? 


58  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFE. 

FRIENDLY  VISITING. 

BY  MRS.  MINNIE  WRIGHT  PRICE  ('88),  SOUTH  ATLANTA,  GA. 


Life  would  not  be  worth  living  did  we  not  have  friends  to  rejoice 
with  us  when  we  are  glad,  and  to  weep  with  us  when  we  mourn. 

As  the  babe  looks  to  his  mother  to  laugh  when  something  has  par 
ticularly  pleased  him  and  expects  that  same  mother  to  kiss  away  his 
tears  when  trouble  has  befallen  him,  so  we,  who  are  grown  to  woman 
hood,  like  to  feel  that  we  have  earthly  friends  to  sympathize  with  us 
in  joy  or  grief.  But  what  do  we  think  of  a  near  friend  who  never 
visits  us? 

All  of  us  have  our  friends,  especially  while  we  live  in  the  place  of 
our  birth  ;  for  there  are  men  and  women  there  who  knew  us  when  we 
were  babies,  who  are  our  friends  for  our  mother's  or  father's  sake,  if 
not  for  our  own. 

There  are  boys  and  girls  who  grew  up  with  us  on  the  play-ground 
and  in  the  school-room,  who,  in  remembrance  of  the  associations 
of  our  youth,  will  always  be  our  friends.  But  not  all  spend  their 
lives  on  their  native  heath,  some  are  continually  moving,  they  spend  a 
lew  months  here  and  then,  when  they  have  just  begun  to  make  friends, 
move  on  to  another  place.  They  are  often  strangers  in  a  strange  land 
and  then  it  is  that  they  feel  the  loneliness  and  emptiness  of  life  with 
out  friends. 

Our  neighborhoods  are  tilled  with  families  which  need  the  sympa 
thy  and  cheer  that  a  friendly  visit  from  you  would  give,  but  you 
withhold  yourself  because  they  are  a  little  lower  in  the  social  scale 
than  you  are,  or  if  they  are  higher,  you  fear  that  they  will  think  you  are 
seeking  their  recognition.  How  much  better  off  we  would  be  if  we 
would  cease  to  draw  these  lines  of  caste  and  each  of  us  as  we  climb 
the  ladder  reach  down  and  assist  a  struggling  sister! 

What  a  spiritual  help  we  would  be  to  each  other,  if  we  would  make 
more  friendly  visits  !  Just  a  word  of  cheer  and  hope  to  the  low-spir 
ited,  a  word  of  sympathy  to  the  sick,  would  show  forth  the  Holy 


SECOND    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE.  59 

Spirit  who  dwells  in  all  Christian  hearts. 

Women  are  naturally  kind  and  friendly.  About  woman  has  ever 
clustered  the  affection,  the  romance  and  even  the  comfort  of  human 
existence.  Wherever  women  are  found  there  is  almost  always  cheer 
fulness  and  kindness;  they  are  generally  obliging,  and  even  among 
savage  tribes  they  are  not  as  distant  and  suspicious  as  men.  How 
ever  poor  their  hospitality  may  be,  they  can  safely  be  relied  upon  by 
the  stranger. 

Mungo  Park  in  the  midst  of  Africa,  when  robbed  of  his  baggage 
and  suffering  from  fever,  was  sheltered  by  a  Negro  woman,  who 
watched  and  cared  for  him  with  a  mother's  tenderness.  If  cold,  wet, 
hungry  or  sick,  woman  never  stops  to  consider  aught  but  the 
stranger's  needs  and  will  sacrifice  her  last  stick  or  crumb  to  relieve 
him. 

It  was  a  poor  widow  who  fed  Elijah  in  the  time  of  famine. 
It  was  the  kindness  of  woman  that  led  her  to  commiserate  the  suf 
ferings  of  the  numerous  criminals,  herded  in  the  dark,  unwholsome 
cells  of  the  English  prisons,  and  the  work  of  Elizabeth  Frye  among 
the  vile  in  Newgate  will  be  remembered  with  reverence  while  the 
world  lasts. 

Not  many  of  us  are  permitted  to  feed  an  Elijah,  but  how  many  are 
daily  letting  the  opportunity  slip  by  when  we  might  visit  some  of  our  poor 
neighbors,  carrying  a  bit  of  the  family  breakfast  ordinner,  and  while 
the  food  satisfies  their  hunger,  our  cheering  words  \vill  give  them 
hope,  courage  and  strength  to  toil  on. 

Very  few  of  us  are  called  to  bring  about  great  reforms,  but  each 
and  all  of  us  by  making  friendly  visits  among  our  neighbors,  can 
teach  them  the  lessons  of  purity,  cleanliness,  and  economy  in  their 
persons  and  in  their  homes.  We  can  also  carry  to  them  the  message 
of  Christ,  while  we  will  get  in  return  some  very  valuable  lesson. 

In  visiting  those  of  our  own  station  in  life  we  gain  by  the  exchange 
of  ideas  and  our  children  and  homes  profit  thereby ;  while  friendly 
visits  with  those  better  situated  than  we  will  inspire  us  to  climb  higher. 

We  need  to  cultivate  a  habit  of  making  friendly  visits  because  of 
the  help,  the  cheer,  the  inspiration  we  may  give  to  others,  and  because 
of  the  help  we  may  be  to  ourselves,  for  in  this  way  we  may  learn  to 
be  content  when  comparing  our  lot  with  that  of  the  more  unfortunate; 


t)0  STUDY    OF    N  EG  110    <TPY    LIFE. 


or  if  discontented,  it  will  be,  not  to  grumble  or  com  plain  of  Provi 
dence,  but  to  put  forth  efforts  to  better  our  condition,  and  also  be 
cause  of  the  help  we  may  be  to  the  Church  and  to  civilization. 

When  we  visit  our  neighbors,  giving  them  spiritual  cheer  or  phys 
ical  assistance,  we  are  teaching  the  lesson  of  Christianity  by  example, 
we  are  walking  in  the  footsteps  of  our  Master  and  building  up  His 
Church  on  earth.  And  as  we  inspire  others  to  make  home  pure,  com 
fortable  and  happy,  we  are  making  the  men  and  women  of  the  future, 
who  will  lead  honest,  industrious  Christian  lives.  Thus  we  will  rid 
the  country  of  its  chain  gangs  and  prison  houses,  and  build  up  a  civili 
zation  such  as  the  world  has  never  yet  seen. 


SECOND    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE.  61 

MOTHERS'  MEETINGS. 

BY  MRS.  GEORGIA  SWIFT  KING    ('74),  ATLANTA,  GA. 


If  it  is  true,  that  of  the  three  main  factors  in  the  make-up  of  the 
individual, — the  home,  the  school  and  the  church, — the  greatest  is  the 
home,  and  since  it  is  true  that  the. home  is  what  the  parents  make  it, 
the  mother  by  nature  having  the  larger  share  in  the  making,  then  it 
follows  that  the  destiny  of  the  Xegro  race  is  largely  in  the  hands  of 
its  mothers. 

Statistics  resulting  from  recent  investigations  indicate  with  respect 
to  the  Negro  population  of  the  United  States;  first,  a  general  decrease 
in  the  birth-rate;  second,  an  alarmingly  excessive  infant  death-rate  ; 
third,  because  of  inherited  tendencies  and  defective  education, — phys 
ical,  intellectual  and  moral, — a  greatly  excessive  death-rate  among 
adults ;  fourth,  that  so  little  does  the  birth-rate  exceed  the  death-rate 
that  the  race  is  doing  little  more  than  reproducing  itself.  These  in 
dications  furnish  food  for  thought,  and  reason  for  investigation  and 
action. 

The  alarming  increase  of  infanticide  (without  reference  to  the  im 
moral,  brutal  class)  seems  to  result  from  the  overworked,  discouraged, 
desperate  state  of  many  laboring  mothers,  upon  whom  the  burden  of 
family  support  so  largely  rests. 

The  large  death-rate  of  both  infants  and  adults,  I  believe,  may  be 
traced  to  poverty  and  ignorance  of  the  laws  of  health ;  an  ignorance 
not  confined  to  the  illiterate,  for  how  many  highly  intelligent  people 
there  are  who  have  almost  no  knowledge  of  the  symptoms  of  ordinary 
diseases  ;  who  do  not  know  when  to  send  for  the  doctor,  nor  how  to  care 
for  the  sick.  I  recall  several  instances  during  the  present  year  where 
promising  lives  in  intelligent  homes  have  been  sacrificed  on  the  altar 
of  ignorance  and  the  most  extravagant  economy  ;  what  wonder  that 
the  illiterate  and  poor  die  in  so  great  numbers  ! 

Does  this  excessive  death-rate  indicate  a  corresponding  mental  and 
moral  decay  ?  What  is  the  remedy  for  such  conditions  ? 

The  blood  of  the  fallen  is  required  at  the  hands  of  the  intelligent 


62  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    T.IFE. 

class.  The  demand  is  apparent  for  preachers  who  study  the  signs  of 
the  times  and  deal  practically  with  the  needs  of  the  hour;  for  teachers, 
capable,  conscientious,  consecrated;  for  physicians,  skilled,  honorable, 
philanthropic.  But  these  agencies  alone  can  not  meet  the  demands 
and  should  be  supplemented  by  other  methods. 

Observation  and  experience  lead  me  to  conclude  that  a  most  excel 
lent  medium  for  effectual  instruction  of  the  masses,  is  "Mother's 
Meetings/7  where  all  questions  of  human  interest  are  pertinent  and 
may  be  freely  discussed  ;  where  all  classes  of  women  may  become  bet 
ter  informed  ;where  even  the  illiterate,  by  regular  attendance,  may  gain 
much  essential  knowledge  of  such  vital  subjects  as:  The  laws  of  sani 
tation  ;  Selection  of  foods;  Economic  cooking;  Proper  and  wholesome 
dress;  Care  of  infants:  Needs  (physical,  mental  and  moral)  of  child 
hood;  Care  of  boys  and  girls  through  the  critical  period  between 
childhood  and  maturity;  How  to  fortify  young  men  against  the  follies 
of  immorality  and  young  women  against  the  dangers  of  imprudence. 

The  science  of  health  and  heredity  and  prenatal  influences,  and 
all  that  pertains  to  household  morality  and  economy,  may  be  handled 
with  such  simplicity  in  these  meetings,  that  not  only  the  mothers  but 
the  whole  people  may  receive  real  benefit. 

When  difficulty  is  experienced  in  getting  the  mothers  to  these 
meetings  I  have  met  with  some  success  by  taking  the  meetings  to  the 
mothers,  that  is,  to  their  immediate  neighborhood. 


SECOND    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE.  63 

NEED  OF  DAY  NURSERIES. 

BY  MRS.  SELENA  SLOAN  BUTLER,  ATLANTA,  GA. 


Among  the  important  questions  of  to-day  is  the  need  of  day  nurser 
ies  in  cities  and  towns  where  children  of  parents  who,  by  force  of 
circumstances,  are  obliged  to  earn  a  living  by  working  in  service,  may 
receive  good  and  wholesome  influences  during  that  period  of  life  when 
impressions  are  easily  made  and  character  readily  molded,  either  for 
good  or  bad. 

Many  parents  in  cities  must  do  work  which  calls  them  away  from 
home,  and  often  they  toil  from  early  dawn  till  a  late  hour  to  keep  the 
wolf  from  the  door,  and,  because  of  their  small  wages,  their  children 
often  are  forced  to  do  work  too  hard  for  them  that  their  meager  earn 
ings  may  add  to  the  support  of  the  still  smaller  children  left  at  home 
during  the  day  without  the  care  of  a  poor  but  loving  mother;  left 
alone  during  that  most  important  period  of  their  lives  when  good  or 
evil  principles  will,  by  cultivation,  become  the  ruling  passion  through 
life;  left  alone  to  grow  up  amid  a  multitude  of  unfavorable  surround 
ings.  With  these  existing  circumstances,  it  does  not  need  a  prophet 
to  tell  what  the  result  will  be. 

It  is  a  daily  experience  to  find  a  child  of  tender  years  left  to  tend 
the  baby  with  but  a  scant  meal  of  meat  and  bread,  while  the  widowed 
mother  is  out  at  work.  At  a  late  hour  the  mother  returns,  tired  and 
almost  exhausted  ;  she  proceeds  at  once  to  satisfy  the  hunger  of  her 
unfortunate  children,  and  then,  in  her  humble  way,  as  best  she  can, 
with  their  bowed  heads  at  her  side  she  teaches  them  to  lisp  the  "  Lord's 
Prayer,"  then  all  are  lost  in  sleep.  The  majority  of  the  children  who 
would  be  glad  to  find  protection  in  a  day  nursery  are  not  blessed  with 
even  this  limited  knowledge  of  a  good  moral  training. 

Such  circumstances  are  not  only  unfavorable  to  the  physical  condi 
tion  of  the  children,  but  detrimental  to  the  parent,  because  such  a 
state  of  constant  activity  and  anxiety  exhausts  the  vital  force.  Do 
you  ask  the  result  ?  Why,  the  mother  dies  at  an  early  age,  leaving 
little  children  in  the  hands  of  chance,  to  be  brought  up,  quite  likely. 


64  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFE. 

among  the  weeds  of  vice  and  sin,  going  from  bad  to  worse,  until  they 
become  a  menace  to  society.  If  there  had  been  a  day  nursery  with 
good  conscientious  persons  at  its  head,  in  which  these  children  could 
have  had  their  physical,  mental  and  moral  natures  properly  cared  for 
at  a  small  cost  to  the  mother,  they  would  have  developed  into  charac 
ters  with  sufficient  magnitude  to  lift  humanity  to  a  higher  plane,  in 
stead  of  degrading  it ;  and  the  mother  would  have  no  doubt  lived  out 
her  three  score  years  and  ten. 

If  you  will  examine  the  records  of  the  mortality  of  the  Negroes  of 
this  city,  you  will  find  that  about  one-third  of  the  deaths  occurred  among 
the  children,  and  a  closer  investigation  will  disclose  the  fact  that  the 
majority  of  these  deaths  occurred  in  families  where  parents  were 
obliged  to  work  out  and  therefore  could  not  detect  disease  in  their 
little  ones  until  too  late  to  be  relieved  by  medical  aid. 

I  will  relate  only  two  of  the  many  casescoming  under  my  observation 
which  make  a  strong  appeal  for  the  establishment  of  day  nurseries. 
A  widowed  mother,  who  worked  for  a  family  in  this  city,  had  a  boy 
about  six  years  of  age.  This  mother  left  her  little  boy  alone,  asking 
each  morning  the  family  in  the  adjoining  room  to  have  an  oversight 
over  him  during  the  day.  For  several  nights  when  the  mother  re 
turned  from  her  work  between  the  hours  of  eight  and  nine,  she  found 
her  boy  with  flushed  cheeks,  sleeping  restlessly.  Being  tired  she  did 
not  investigate  the  cause  of  this  abnormal  condition,  but  attributed  it 
to  exhaustion  from  play.  Finally  the  child's  condition  became  alarm 
ing,  and  one  night  about  nine  o'clock  the  mother  took  it  to  the  office 
of  a  physician.  After  a  careful  examination,  the  mother  was  told  that 
her  child  was  in  the  third  stage  of  typhoid  fever,  and  recovery  de 
pended  upon  immediate  attention  and  good  nursing.  Then  the  mother, 
with  tears  in  her  eyes,  related  her  sad  story. 

The  other  case  is  that  of  a  boy  who  went  into  a  physician's  office 
crying,  and  with  his  clothes  covered  with  blood.  What  was  the  mat 
ter?  Why,  the  same  old  story.  The  boy  had  had  an  artery  cut  with 
a  stone  that  was  thrown  by  another  boy  whose  mother  was  obliged  to 
work  away  from  home,  that  she  might  be  able  to  pay  her  house  rent 
and  feed  and  clothe  her  children:  and  but  for  the  interest  the  physician 
took  in  the  case,  there  might  have  been  a  dead  boy,  a  lawsuit,  and  a 
juvenile  criminal  ;  all  because  of  the  need  of  day  nurseries. 


SECOND    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE.  65 

Another  evidence  of  the  need  of  day  nurseries  is  the  large  number 
of  boys,  almost  babies  you  might  say,  to  be  found  not  only  loitering 
and  making  mischief  in  the  alleys,  but  even  in  the  chain-gangs.  Many 
are  there  because  in  early  childhood  they  had  no  one  at  home  to  hold 
them  in  check,  and,  yielding  to  the  influences  about  them,  their  minds 
became  steeped  in  sin  and  vice  ;  and  they  grew  wise  only  in  the  knowl 
edge  of  petty  crimes. 

If  the  absence  of  day  nurseries  affected  the  physical  nature  only  it 
might  not  be  so  alarming,  but  seeing  the  effect  daily  upon  the  mental 
and  moral  natures,  and  not  knowing  to  what  extent  these  natures  may 
be  transmitted  to  coming  generations,  we  ought  to  see  plainly  the 
necessity  of  administering  the  ounce  of  prevention  by  establishing  day 
nurseries. 

We  need  an  institution  where  mothers  who  are  obliged  to  be  away 
from  home  in  order  that  they  may  earn  an  honest  living  may  leave 
their  children  and  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  their  little 
minds  are  lifted  above  the  miry  slough  and  prepared  to  shun  the  pit 
falls  that  have  been  the  destruction  of  many  a  young  life  born  to  be 
useful. 


66  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFE. 

NEED  OF  KINDERGARTENS. 

BY    MRS.    ROSA    MOREHEAD    BASS    ('80),    ATLANTA,    <iA. 


[NOTE:  A  movement  has  already  been  started  among  the  influential  colored  peo 
ple  of  Atlanta  to  establish  a  kindergarten.  The  plan  of  the  conference  has  been  to 
discuss  only  such  reforms  as  were  immediate^  practical  and  would  be  dependent 
only  on  local  co-operation  and  support. — ED.] 


I  could  perform  no  pleasanter  duty  than  to  plead  for  kindergarten 
schools  for  the  Negro  children. 

Some  twelve  years  ago  we  had  in  Atlanta  a  model  Jones  kindergar 
ten,  under  the  care  of  the  A.  M.  A.,  so  it  will  not  be  an  experiment 
with  us.  Unfortunately  it  had  to  be  discontinued  for  want  of  means. 
It  would  have  been  self-supporting  by  this  time,  and  would  have  ac 
complished  untold  good. 

What  a  blessing  a  kindergarten  would  be  to  the  tired  mother  who 
could  feel  that  her  little  darling  was  safely  housed  from  harm  while 
she  performs  her  daily  duties!  For  the  poor  woman  who  is  busy  the 
entire  week  washing  and  ironing,  it  is  an  impossibility  to  care  properly 
for  her  children.  A  kindergarten  would  be  a  rock  of  refuge  to  her; 
and  to  that  mother  who  goes  from  home  early  in  the  morning  and  does 
not  return  till  dark,  for  her  children  such  a  school  would  be  a  castle 
of  escape. 

I  wish  to  give  the  "  testimony"  of  three  mothers,  who  are  graduates 
of  Atlanta  University,  and  whose  husbands  are  prominent  in  educa 
tional  work.  These  have  representative  homes — homes  of  intelligence. 
Mrs.  Win.  E.  Holmes,  whose  husband  is  a  professor  in  the  Atlanta 
Baptist  College,  says  : 

"  As  I  see  it,  we  need  kindergarten  schools: 

"  First — Because,  as  a  race,  we  are  incompetent  to  give  our  children 
the  training  such  schools  furnish; 

"Second — Because  such  tuition  gives  the  teacher  a  foundation  on 
which  to  build.  We  speak  much  concerning  our  progress  and  it  must 
be  admitted  that  it  is  great,  but  if  we  had  had  at  the  beginning  of  our 


SECOND    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE.  67 

career  such  preliminary  education  we  should  be  considerably  in  advance 
of  our  present  condition; 

"  Third — Because  the  impressionable  years  of  early  childhood  should 
be  turned  to  matters  of  importance  and  permanent  value.  This  is  a 
training  which  if  neglected  then  can  never  be  supplied.  And  if  we 
are  ever  to  be  an  educated  race  that  training  we  must  have,  for  educa 
tion  is  our  greatest  need." 

Mrs.  Crogman,  the  wife  of  Prof.  Crogman  of  Clark  University,  and 
the  mother  of  eight  children,  says: 

"  In  my  opinion  one  of  the  greatest  needs  of  our  people  is  the  estab 
lishment  of  kindergarten  schools  for  the  training  of  our  young.  In 
them  they  can  be  trained  younger  than  in  the  primary  schools  ;  and  in 
them  they  are  prepared  to  take  hold  better  of  the  primary  work." 

Mrs.  Edgar  J.  Penney,  whose  husband  is  pastor  at  the  Tuskegee 
Normal  and  Industrial  Institute,  says  : 

"  I  am  a  kindergarten  enthusiast,  because  I  believe  it  is  the  mother's 
greatest  help.  It  opens  its  doors  at  the  very  time  when  children  are 
most  restless  and  active,  and  turns  that  activity,  which  is  miscalled 
mischief  at  home,  into  innocent  and  pleasant  instruction,  and  thus  the 
process  of  development  of  the  mind  and  physical  nature  begins  early. 
The  State  is  generous,  I  know,  in  educating  the  young,  but  she  makes  the 
mistake  that  many  parents  make  in  letting  the  child  become  bad  and  then 
frying  to  reform  it.  The  natural  order  ought  to  be  for  the  youth  to 
graduate  from  the  kindergarten,  then  from  the  primary  schools,  and  so 
n  until  the  college  is  reached. 

What  a  God-send  would  these  children-gardens  be  to  the  poor  who 
have  little  or  no  time  to  give  to  the  training  of  their  little  ones!  I 
am  praying  and  longing  to  see  the  day  when  free  kindergartens  will 
be  on  the  corner  of  every  alley.  What  a  strange  idea  to  wait  until  a 
child  is  six  or  seven  to  begin  its  education,  which  means  books  as  so 
many  think! 

"  There  are  hundreds  of  things  and  ideas  that  a  child  gets  in  a  kin 
dergarten  which  are  really  the  beginning  of  its  education,  and  yet  it 
does  not  know  the  book  language.  It  gets  acquainted  with  nature.  I 
cannot  tell  you  how  it  rejoices  me  that  this  most  important  subject  is 
to  be  discussed.  I  wish  I  could  arouse  every  mother  and  teacher  in 
this  Southland  to  see  the  need  of  saving  our  children  before  they 


o 

u 


68  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LJFE. 

become  steeped  and  dyed  in  vice,  and  then  attempt  to  reform  them/' 

The  Catholics  ask  but  the  first  seven  years  of  a  child,  the  formative 
period,  asserting  that  ideas  inculcated  during  that  season  cannot  be 
supplanted.  Let  us  apply  the  wisdom  of  their  experience  to  our  case. 
The  years  that  need  most  careful  instruction  are  those  entrusted  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  the  rabble.  Innocent  eyes  read  and  observe  the 
animate  illustrations  of  vice,  innocent  ears  listen  to  the  rendition  of 
collections  of  depravity.  With  these  lessons  learned  the  school  teacher 
has  to  begin  to  uneducate,  but  trace  what  she  may  upon  the  palimpsest 
the  first  record  remains  uneifaced. 

The  Atlanta  Journal  recently  said:  "This  work  seems  to  be  the 
sweetest,  the  best,  the  most  far-reaching  good  work  that  we  can  do  for 
humanity.  Teach  a  little  child  goodness  and  truth,  useful  facts  and 
bright  bits  of  knowledge,  and  the  father  and  mother  in  the  lowly  homes 
will  soon  learn  the  same  lessons  from  the  baby  lips." 

With  all  the  ardor  of  an  anxious  mother  I  repeat  that  day  homes  or 
kindergartens  are  a  glaring  need,  an  absolute  necessity  if  the  masses 
are  to  be  raised. 

Friends,  I  plead  most  earnestly  for  such  a  school  at  once,  there  are 
so  many  little  children  ready  and  eager  to  go  to  the  school.  Who,  oh? 
who  is  ready  and  willing  to  help  us  to  administer  to  their  wants? 


SECOND    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE. 


REPORTS  FROM  CITIES. 

[NoTE:  It  is  hoped  to  make  the  reports  from  cities  one  of  the  main  features  of 
the  next  conference.  A  movement  has  already  begun  in  several  cities  to  form  local 
organizations  to  make  investigations  and  work  along  lines  suggested  by  the  Atlanta 
conference.  Another  year  one  of  the  section  meetings  could  be  profitably  devoted 
to  reports  and  discussions  by  the  delegates  from  such  organizations.  This  year  we 
print  brief  reports  from  three  of  these  organizations  located  respectively  in  Atlanta, 
New  Orleans  and  Washington. — ED.] 


ATLANTA. 

This  report  was  presented  to  the  conference  by  Prof,  Win.  E.  Holmes,  of  the  At 
lanta  Baptist  College. 

Deeply  concerned  about  the  condition  of  the  poor  people  in  Atlanta, 
for  some  time  Mrs.  Georgia  Swift  King,  in  a  quiet  way,  had  been  labor 
ing  to  better  it.  Into  homes  neglected  by  the  fortunate  few  she  had 
again  and  again  made  her  way  to  help  the  needy.  Finding  the  work 
growing  in  dimensions,  it  occurred,  to  her  to  enlist  the  sympathy  and 
assistance  of  others. 

Accordingly,  early  in  the  spring,  at  her  suggestion  a  meeting  was 
called  at  the  residence  of  Rev.  Dr.  W.  G.  Alexander.  A  number  re 
sponded,  the  object  of  the  meeting  was  stated,  discussion  was  engaged 
in  and  an  organization  was  effected,  of  which  Prof.  William  B. 
Matthews  is  the  president. 

Like  similar  societies,  the  object  is  to  study  the  condition  of  the 
lowly  and  in  all  possible  ways  to  improve  it.  The  society  intends  to 
awaken  interest  in  good  reading,  to  look  after  female  criminals,  to 
seek  to  raise  the  standard  of  home  life,  and  thus  tone  up  the  morals 
and  decrease  the  mortality  of  the  race. 

Already  mothers'  meetings  have  been  held,  children  have  been 
looked  after,  and  helpful  suggestions  have  been  made  to  the  people. 

NEW  ORLEANS. 

Reported  by  letter  by  Rev.  George  W.  Henderson  to  the  corresponding  secretary  of 
the  conference,  Mr.  George  G.  Bradford. 

I  sent  you  newspaper  clippings  containing  reports  of  our  first  two 
meetings.  The  third  was  equally  successful.  We  were  fortunate  in 
securing  the  co-operation  and  assistance  of  the  mayor  of  the  city  and 


0  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    LIFE. 

other  equally  distinguished  citizens  of  the  white  race. 

These  meetings  were  somewhat  experimental.  Their  success  was 
such  as  to  encourage  the  continuance  of  the  movement.  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  form  a  permanent  organization  for  the  continued  in 
vestigation  and  discussion  of  the  various  questions  concerning  our 
moral  and  material  progress.  The  central  principle  of  the  undertak 
ing  diifers  somewhat  from  the  Atlanta  enterprise. 

With  us  the  fundamental  thing  is  education.  The  causes  and  reme 
dies  of  mortality  are  a  part  of  this  larger  subject.  In  our  city  we 
have  little  doubt  but  that  the  bad  sanitary  condition  of  those  sections 
where  our  people  live  has  much  to  do  with  the  high  death-rate. 
For  this  the  city  is  largely  responsible.  So  far  as  the  people  them 
selves  are  responsible,  it  is  due  to  poverty  and  ignorance.  Hence  our 
object  is  to  impart  knowledge  and  create  the  desire  for  improvement 
and  arouse  the  spirit  of  self-help,  and  our  method  is  to  hold  popular 
meetings  from  time  to  time  in  diiferent  parts  of  the  city  on  the  one 
hand,  and  also  affect  public  sentiment  on  the  other  through  the 
press  and  by  committees  who  shall  represent  us  before  the  Board  of 
Education,  the  City  Council  and  the  Legislature,  and  ultimately  we 
hope  to  extend  the  movement  to  all  parts  of  the  state. 

As  to  the  question  of  mortality,  I  hope  something  may  be  done 
along  the  lines  pursued  in  Atlanta  and  other  cities.  My  first  aim  has 
been  to  create  an  interest.  I  think  now  I  see  the  way  clear  to  do  this 
particular  kind  of  investigation,  and  I  hope  some  report  may  be  sent 
to  your  third  conference  next  year. 

WASHINGTON. 

This  report  was  presented  to  the  conference  by  Mr.  L.  M.  Hershaw. 

The  Graduate  Club  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  is  an  organization  com 
posed  of  colored  graduates  of  several  Northern  and  Southern  colleges. 
The  object  of  the  club  is  to  stimulate  study  and  research  among  its 
members.  The  work  outlined  so  far  lies  within  the  province  of  soci 
ology.  During  the  year  just  closed  the  club  has  been  studying  the 
works  of  Giddiugs  and  Fairbanks  on  sociology.  The  program  for 
next  year  contains  studies  on  various  phases  of  the  Negro  problem, 
and  also  several  topics  of  a  broadly  sociological  interest.  Prof.  Kelly 
Miller,  professor  of  mathematics  in  Howard  University,  is  president 
of  the  club,  which  has  a  membership  at  present  of  thirty-three. 


SECOND    ANNUAL    <  ONFEKENCE.  71 


EXTRACTS  FROM  LETTERS. 


[The  following  are  extracts  from   a  few  of  the  many  encouraging  letters  received 
from  those  who  sympathize  deeply  with  the  purpose  of  the  conference. — ED.] 


From   His   Excellency,  W.   Y.   ATKINSON,   Governor  of  the  State  of  Georgia  : 

I  have  delayed  replying  to  your  kind  invitation  to  be  with  yon, 
hoping  that  I  would  be  able  to  comply  with  your  request,  but  I  regret 
to  say  that  I  am  now  forced  to  write  you  that  it  will  be  impossible  for 
rue  to  accept. 

I  sincerely  trust  that  the  "  Conference  on  City  Problems"  will  be 
both  profitable  and  enjoyable. 


From  MELVILLE  W.  FULLER,  Chief  Justice  of  the  U.  S,  Supreme  Court; 

I  sincerely  regret  that  I  find  it  impossible  to  attend  the  conference 
with  reference  to  the  condition  of  the  colored  population  in  our  cities, 
to  be  held  Mav  25th  and  26th. 


From  FREDERICK  HOWARD  WINES,  LL.D,,  Editor  of  the  Charities  Review. 

I  am  very  much  obliged  for  your  invitation  to  attend  the  second 
conference  with  reference  to  the  condition  of  the  colored  population 
in  the  cities  of  the  United  States.  I  regret  that  my  official  duties  will 
not  permit  my  absence  from  home  at  the  date  of  this  meeting. 

My  word  to  the  conference  is  simply  this:  that  if  the  Negro  race  is 
ever  to  be  elevated  in  the  social  scale,  as  I  believe  that  it  will  be,  it 
can  only  be  by  self-culture  and  self-control.  Help  from  the  outside 
will  go  but  a  little  way.  The  Negro  must  realize  his  manhbod  and 
his  responsibilities  as  a  man  and  citizen,  and  meet  them,  if  he  wishes  to 
survive  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  It  is  absolutely  essential  that  he 
should  receive  not  only  a  literary  education,  but  manual  training;  and 
that  he  should  cultivate  in  himself  the  virtues  of  industry,  thrift, 
chastity,  honesty  and  temperance.  When  he  learns  to  respect  himself, 


72  STUDY    OF    NEGRO    CITY    1,1  FK. 

his  women,  the  rights  of  others,  and  especially  the  rights  of  property ; 
to  meet  the  reasonable  expectations  of  his  employers,  and  to  fulfill  his 
contracts  both  in  letter  and  in  spirit,  he  will  command  the  respect  of 
the  world,  and  his  advancement  will  be  both  sure  and  rapid.  If  race 
prejudice  on  the  part  of  the  white  people  towards  the  colored  is  to  be 
deplored,  so  also  is  race  prejudice  on  the  part  of  the  colored  people 
towards  the  white.  The  two  races  must  live  in  peace  and  harmony,  or 
the  weaker  race  will  inevitably  go  to  the  wall. 


From  Hon.  C.  A.  COLLIER,  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Atlanta. 

I  shall  be  gone  until  June  1st,  or  about  that  time;  consequently  I 
shall  be  compelled  to  forego  the  pleasure  of  making  the  address  which  you 
desire  at  vour  conference  on  the  2oth  and  26th  of  Mav. 


From    JOHN  F.   CROWELL,  Professor    of    Economics   and  Sociology  in  Smith 
College: 

I  am  very  deeply  interested  in  the  conference  proposed  to  consider 
the  condition  of  the  colored  population  in  our  cities,  at  Atlanta,  May 
25  and  26.  It  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction — a  step  looking  toward  the 
selection  of  the  socially  safe  and  the  scientifically  sound  means  by  which 
the  colored  people  may  avoid  the  dangers  and  yet  secure  the  benefits 
of  what  is  an  essentially  sympathetic  civilization.  Though  my  duties 
here  will  prevent  my  being  present  I  hope  that  its  proceedings  will  be 
given  widest  publicity. 

I  hope  that  those  who  meet  to  discuss  these  problems  may,  if  deemed 
advisable,  provide  for  permanent  organization  of  this  movement,  so 
that  from  year  to  year  the  methods  and  results  may  be  considered  in 
conference.  If  so,  please  enroll  my  name  among  its  members. 


From  SAMUEL  M.  LINDSAY,  Professor  of  Finance  and  Economy,  University  o 
Pennsylvania : 

I  am  very  glad  to  know  of  your  Conference  on  City  Problems.  The 
results  of  your  investigation  as  published  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  De 
partment  of  Labor  are  extremely  interesting  and  this  conference  should 
be  very  helpful.  I  would  like  to  be  present,  but  my  duties  here  at 
the  close  of  the  term  are  such  that  I  cannot  get  away  now. 


Appendix:— A. 


The  data  from  which  the  following  tables  were  compiled  were  gathered  exclusively  by  rep 
resentative  colored  men  and  women  under  the  direction  of  Atlanta  University,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
At  the  suggestion  of  Col.  Carroll  D.  Wright,  Commissioner  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Labor, 
the  data  gathered  were  turned  over  to  the  Department  of  Labor  for  tabulation  and  at  his  request 
the  university  permitted  the  tables  to  be  published  in  full  in  the  May  Bulletin  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  Labor.  We  reprint  here  summaries  and  extracts  from  these  tables. 

There  were  invited  to  take  part  in  the  investigation  about  50  graduates  of  Atlanta  Univer 
sity,  30  of  Fisk  University,  and  15  of  the  colored  graduates  of  Berea,  besides  the  prominent 
colored  doctors,  ministers,  lawyers,  and  teachers  of  the  States  of  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  Ala 
bama  and  Tennessee,  including  representatives  from  all  the  more  prominent  institutions  for  the 
higher  education  of  the  Negro.  In  all,  something  over  300  were  invited,  of  whom  about  100 
volunteered,  and  of  the  latter  50  were  able  to  complete  their  part  of  the  investigation  within 
the  time  allowed  them,  which,  unfortunately,  was  very  short. 

Great  credit  is  due  to  the  investigators  for  their  work  in  the  investigation,  for  through 
them  its  success  has  been  possible.  As  previously  stated,  they  are  all  representative  colored 
persons.  The  following  statement  shows  in  detail  the  name  of  each  person  engaged  in  the  work 
of  securing  the  data,  the  number  of  groups  investigated  by  each,  and  the  total  number  of 
groups,  families  and  individuals  canvassed. 


Investigators. 


Athens,   Oa. 

Dr.  C.  S.  Haynes 

Atlanta,  Ga. 

Selena  S.  Butler 

Emma  L.  Holmes 

Laura  C.  Davis 

Lilla  E.  Badger  and  Mary  E.  Brittain 

Mary  F.  Pumn 

Prof.  William  B .  Matthews 

Dr.  H.  R.  Butler 

George    A.    Towns   and   Adrienne   E. 

Hern  don 

Jul  ia  M.  Brown 

Mattie  A.  Ford 

Alice  D.  Carey        

Georgia  S.  King 

Rev.  Henry  H.  Proctor 

Nellie  E.  Crawford 

Mary  E.  Keller 

Birmingham,  Ala. 

Dr.  A.  M.  Brown 

Cambridge,  Mas*. 
Butler  R.   Wilson 

Cartersville,  Ga. 

Albert  B.  Cooper 

Chattanooga,  Tenn. 
Rev.  Joseph  E.  Smith 

Columbia,  8.  C. 
Dr.  C.  C.  Johnson 

Jackson,  Tenn. 
Prof.    A.  R.  Merry 


Group 
No. 


15 

1 
2 
3 
4 

5 
6,7 

8 

9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

1,16 

1 

2 

17 

.8, 19, 20 


Investigators. 


Group 

No 


Jacksonville.  Fla. 

Dr.  W.  C.  Smalls 

Rev.  W.  E.  Partee  and  L.  B.  Robinson 

Prof.  William  F.  Jackson 

Louisville,  Ky. 

Prof.  Frank  L.  Williams'. . .  

Macon,  Ga. 
Dr.  C.  McCarthy j 

Macon,  Mtss. 

Dr.  Daniel  W.  Sherrod 

Nashville,  Tenn. 

Prof.  Eugene  Harris 


Hon.  J.  C.  Napier 

Orangeburg,  8.  C. 
N.  J.  Frederick  and  Chas.  H.  Johnson 

Frank  B.  Johnson 

Sanford,  Fla. 

William  C.  McLester 

Savannah,  Ga.         9 

Dr.  C.  McKane 

Sarah  J.  Butler 

Rev.  R.  R.  Downs 

Tuskegee,  Ala. 
Rev.  E.  J.  Penney 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Dr.  Furman  J.  Shadd 

Maggie  R.  Bowen 

Dr.  W.  Bruce  Evans 

C.  L.  Franklin 


31,32 


1,2,3, 

4,5,6, 

7,8,9 

10 

9 
10 

11 

12 

21 
25,26,27 


NUMBER  OF  GROUPS,  FAMILIES,  AND  INDIVIDUALS  CANVASSED. 


City. 

Gro'ps. 

Fami 
lies. 

Indi- 
vidu'ls. 

City. 

Gro'ps. 

Fami 
lies. 

Indi- 
vidu'ls. 

Atlanta,  Ga 

16 

324 

1,292 

Orangeburg,  S.  C.. 

2 

22 

109 

Nashville,  Tenn  
Cambridge,  Mass  
Savannah,  Ga  
Washington,  D.  C  

10 
1 
5 
4 

246 
98 
96 
66 

1,090 
366 
380 
293 

Sanford,  Fla  
Athens,  Ga  
Cartersville,  Ga  
Louisville,  Ky. 

1 

1 
1 

24 
16 
10 
15 

116 

73 
53 
70 

Macon,  Ga  
Jacksonville,  Fla  
Columbia,  S.  C.. 

4 
3 
3 

30 

77 
15 

90 
327 
81 

Macon,  Miss  
Chattanooga,  Tenn  
Jackson,  Tenn.  .... 

1 
1 
1 

17 
21 

22 

64 
89 

67 

17 

CO 

Tuskegee,  Ala  

2 

21 

119 

Total  

59 

1,137 

4,742 

The  investigation  was  carried  to  completion  in  18  cities,  all  except  one  of 
^which  are  located  in  the  Southern  States.  The  effort  to  secure  schedules  for 
several  groups  of  colored  people  in  each  of  the  smaller  cities  and  for  a  larger 
number  of  groups  in  cities  of  greater  size  and  importance  was  quite  success 
ful,  as  the  preceding  statement  shows.  Great  care  was  taken  in  the  selec 
tion  of  groups  and  in  securing  data  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  and  it  is  to  the  tabulation  for  these  cities  that  we  must 
look  for  the  most  representative  and  accurate  showing  of  the  condition  of  the 
Negro  so  far  as  this  investigation  is  concerned.  The  tabulation  of  the  data 
for  32  groups  in  the  other  cities  canvassed  is  presented  mainly  for  the  value 
it  may  have  in  corroborating  the  facts  presented  for  the  16  groups  in  Atlanta, 
the  10  groups  in  Nashville,  and  the  single  group  in  Cambridge.  The  data  for 
the  32  groups  in  other  cities  have  doubtless  been  gathered  with  quite  as  much 
care  in  most  cases,  but  the  same  care  could  not  be  exercised  in  the  selection 
of  the  32  groups  to  be  investigated  as  in  the  cities  for  which  a  separate  state 
ment  is  made. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  "groups"  in  some  of  the  previous  statements, 
and  an  explanation  is  probably  necessary  in  order  that  the  reader  may  have 
an  accurate  knowledge  of  just  what  is  meant  by  the  term  in  this  connection. 
It  was  not  possible  to  secure  data  from  any  large  portion  of  the  population 
or  for  any  large  section  of  the  cities  involved  in  the  investigation,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  in  no  instance  was  there  any  remuneration  given  to  investiga 
tors  for  the  work  performed,  it  being  purely  voluntary  and  usually  performed 
by  persons  with  so  many  other  interests  that  but  a  part  of  their  time  could 
be  devoted  to  this  work.  For  this  reason  it  was  decided  to  select  one  or  more 
groups  of  from  10  to  20  houses  standing  together  in  the  portions  of  the  city 
which  were  thought  to  be  representative  of  the  various  conditions  of  the 
Negro  in  that  locality.  Each  of  these  collections  of  houses  has  been  termed  a 
group. 

In  the  tabular  presentations  which  follow,  the  cities  embraced  in  the 
investigation  have  been  arranged  in  four  divisions  in  each  summary  table, 
and  the  same  order  is  followed  in  the  tables  which  give  more  detailed  infor 
mation,  as  follows:  Sixteen  groups  in  Atlanta,  Ga. ;  10  groups  in  Nashville, 
Tenn.;  1  group  in  Cambridge,  Mass.;  and  32  groups  in  other  cities.  Under 
each  of  these  divisions  the  groups  have  been  arranged  according  to  their  con 
dition  and  the  character  of  their  surroundings,  whether  good,  fair,  or  bad. 
In  the  first  division,  comprising  the  16  groups  for  Atlanta,  Ga.,  groups  1,  2,  3, 
4,  and  5  may  be  classed  as  good ;  groups  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  and  11  as  fair ;  and  groups 
12,  13,  14,»15,  and  16  as  bad.  In  the  second  division,  comprising  10  groups  in 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  group  1  may  be  classed  as  good ;  groups  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  and 
9  as  fair;  and  group  10  as  bad.  In  the  third  division,  the  single  group  in 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  may  be  classed  as  fair.  In  the  fourth  division,  groups  1  to 
14  are  classed  as  good ;  groups  15  to  23  as  fair ;  and  groups  24  to  29  as  bad ;  the 
condition  of  groups  30,  31,  and  32  not  being  reported.  The  groups  in  this 
fourth  division  are  located  as  follows :  Group  1  in  Birmingham,  Ala. ;  group 
2  in  Cartersville,  Ga.;  group  3  in  Jackson,  Tenn.;  groups  4  and  5  in  Jackson 
ville,  Fla.;  group  6  in  Louisville,  Ky.;  group  7  in  Macon,  Ga. ;  group  8  in 
Macon,  Miss.;  groups  9  and  10  in  Orangeburg,  S.  C. ;  group  11  in  Sanford,  Fla.; 
group  12  in  Savannah,  Ga.;  group  13  in  Tuskegee,  Ala.;  group  14  in  Washing 
ton,  D.  C. ;  group  15  in  Athens,  Ga. ;  group  16  in  Birmingham,  Ala.;  group  17 
in  Chattanooga,  Tenn.;  groups  18,  19,  and  20  in  Columbia,  S.  C.;  group  21  in 
Savannah,  Ga. ;  groups  22  and  23  in  Washington,  D.  C.;  group  24  in  Jackson 
ville,  Fla.;  groups  25,  26,  and  27  in  Savannah,  Ga. ;  group  28  in  Tuskegee, 
Ala.;  group  29  in  Washington,  D.  C.;  and  groups  30,  31,  and  32  in  Macon,  Ga. 


TABLE  1.— NUMBER  AND  PER  CENT  OF  PERSONS  OF  EACH  RELATIONSHIP. 


Relationship   to    head    of 
family. 

!   Nashville, 
Atlanta,  Ga.,        Tenn., 
16  groups.    ,    10  groups. 

Cambridge, 
Mass., 
1  group. 

Other  cities, 
32  groups. 

All  groups. 

Num 
ber. 

Per     Nurn- 
cent.     ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 
cent. 

Heads  of  families  
Children..         

537 

609 
22 
33 
33 
13 
2t5 
12 
7 

41.57        442 
47.14         486 

i.7o  ;     30 

2.55          46 
2.55           25 
1  .  01           20 
2.01             9 
.93           24 
.54  !          8 

40.55 
44.59 
2.75 
4.22 
2.29 
1.84 
83 
2  20 
.73 

178 
152 

17 

1 

11 

2 

48  63 
41.53 
1  09 
4.65 
.27 

".27 
3.01 
.55 

817 
920 
44 
42 
54 
37 
16 
44 
20 

40.97 
46.14 
2.21 
2.11 
2.71 
1.85 
.80 
2.21 
1.00 

1,974 
2,167 
100 
138 
113 
70 
52 
91 
37 

41.63 
45.70 
2.11 
2  91 
2  38 
1.47 
1.10 
1.92 
.78 

Parents 

Brothers  and  sisters  

Grandchildren  

Boarders  

Other  relationships.. 
Total 

1,292 

100.01)      1.090 

100.00 

366 

100.00      1,994 

100.00 

4,742 

100.00 

TABLE  2.— NUMBER  AND   PER  CENT  OF  FAMILIES  OF  EACH  SPECIFIED  SIZE. 


Size  of  families. 

Atlanta,  Ga., 
16  groups. 

Nashville, 
Tenn., 
10  groups. 

Cambridge, 
Mass., 
1  group. 

Other  cities, 
32  groups. 

All  groups. 

Num 
ber. 

Pei- 
cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 
cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

1  person  

22 
65 
76 

48 
42 
27 
22 
9 
8 
5 

6  79 
20.06 
23.46 
14.82 
12.96 
8.33 
6.79 
2.78 
2.47 
1.54 

I 

38 
46 
53 
21 
18 
12 
5 
3 
1 

2.04 
17.89 
15.45 
18.67 
21.55 
8.54 
7.32 
4.88 
2.03 
1.22 
.41 

5 
25 
23 
18 
14 
2 
4 
5 

"'2 

5.10 
25.51 
23.47 
18.37 
14.29 
2.04 
4.08 
5.10 

'2.04' 

22 
84 
103 
86 
57 
36 
38 
17 
13 
12 
1 

4.69 
17.91 
21.96 
18.34 
12.15 
7.68 
8.10 
3.63 
2.77 
2.56 
.21 

54 
218 
240 
198 
166 
86 
82 
43 
26 
22 
2 

4.75 
19.17 
21.11 
17.41 
14.60 
7.56 
7.21 
3.78 
2.29 
1  94 
.18 

2  persons  
3  persons.         .... 

4  persons        .  .   . 

5  persons          

6  persons  
7  persons                 .... 

8  persons  
9  persons  
10  persons  

Total  

324 

100.00 

246 

100.00 

98 

100.00  I      469 

100.00 

1,137 

100.00 

TABLE  3.— AVERAGE  SIZE  OF  FAMILY,  BY  CITIES. 


Cities. 

Total 
families. 

Total 
persons. 

Average 
size  of 
family. 

Atlanta  Ga 

324 

1  292 

3  99 

Nashville,  Tenn     v.  ..     ..                  ..         

246 

1  090 

4  43 

Cambridge,  Mass  

98 

366 

3  73 

Other  cities        

469 

1  994 

4  25 

Total          

1,137 

4  742 

4  17 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  table  that  for  all  the  families  investigated 
the  average  number  of  persons  per  family  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  was  found  to  be 
3.99;  in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  4.43;  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  8.73;  in  the  other  cities, 
4.25 ;  and  in  all  the  cities  covered  by  the  investigation,  4.17.  Comparison 
with  the  returns  of  the  census  of  1890  in  the  cases  of  the  first  three  cities, 
returns  for  all  the  others  not  being  given,  shows  that  for  the  entire  popula 
tion  of  these  cities,  including  both  white  and  colored,  the  average  size  of 
family  was  considerably  larger,  viz.,  for  Atlanta  4.91,  Nashville  4.92,  and  Cam 
bridge  4.95. 


TABLE  4.— NUMBER  AND  PER  CEST    OF  PERSONS  UNDER  EACH  AGE  PERIOD. 


Nashville, 

Cambridge, 

Atlanta,  Ga., 

Tenn., 

Mass., 

Other   cities, 

All  groups. 

16  groups. 

10  groups. 

1  group. 

32  groups. 

Num 

Per 

Num 

Per 

Num 

Per 

Num 

Per 

Num 

Per 

ber. 

cent. 

ber. 

cent. 

ber. 

cent. 

ber. 

cent. 

ber. 

cent. 

Under  10  years  .... 

290 

22  44 

212 

19  45 

90 

24  59 

419 

21  01 

1,011 

21  32 

10  to  19  years  

315 

24.38 

274 

25.14 

67 

18.31 

452 

22.67 

1,108 

23.37 

20  to  29  years  

235 

18  19 

190     17  43 

91 

24  86 

404 

20.26 

920 

19  40 

30  to  39  years 

209 

16  18 

141     12  <U 

64 

17  49 

280 

14  04 

694 

14  64 

40  to  49  years 

112 

8  67 

115 

10.55 

32 

8.74 

222 

11.13 

481 

10  14 

50  to  59  years  

70 

5.42 

91 

8.35 

18 

4.92 

119 

5.97 

298 

6.28 

60  years  or  over  

56 

4  33 

66 

6.05 

3 

.82 

72 

3.61 

197 

4  15 

Age  unknown         .  ... 

5 

39 

1 

09 

1 

.27 

26 

1  31 

33 

70 

Total 

1,292 

100.00 

1,090 

100.00 

366 

100.00 

1,994 

100  00 

4,742 

100.00 

TABLE  5.— AVERAGE  PERSONS  PER  SLEEPING  ROOM. 


Families  having  to  each  sleeping  room  an 

Aver 

average  of— 

age 

Total 

pers'ns 

fami 

to  a 

Cities. 

Under 
1  per 
son. 

lor 

under 
2  per 

2  or 
under 
3  per 

3  or 
under 
4  per 

4  or 
under 
5  per 

5  per 
sons  or 
over. 

lies. 

sleep 
ing- 
room. 

sons. 

sons. 

sons. 

sons. 

Atlanta,  Ga  
Nashville,  Tenn  

6 
1 

94 
54 

119 
114 

65 
35 

26 
21 

14 
21 

324 

246 

2.22 

2.44 

Cambridge,  Mass,  (a)  
Other  cities  (a)  

14 

34 
147 

49 
177 

11 
81 

1 
31 

1 
17 

96 

467 

1.96 
2.05 

Total  (6)  

21 

329 

459 

192 

79 

53 

1,133 

2.17 

a  Not  including  2  families  not  reporting  sleeping-rooms. 
b  Not  including  4  families  not  reporting  sleeping-rooms. 


TABLE  6.— ROOMS  PER  FAMILY. 


Families  living  in— 


Cities. 

1 

ro'm. 

2 
ro'ms. 

3 
ro'  ins  . 

4 
ro'ms. 

5 
ro'ms. 

6 
ro'ms. 

? 

ro'ms  . 

8 
ro'ms 

9 
ro'ms. 

10 
ro'ms 
or 
over. 

Not 
re 
port 
ed. 

Total 
fami 
lies. 

Atlanta,  Ga  
Nashville,  Tenn  . 
Cambridge,  M's. 
Other  cities  

o58 
9 
5 
45 

a!16 
55 

7 
98 

84 
124 

28 
72 

25 
34 
21 
117 

17 
14 

18 
63 

16 
5 
7 
33 

4 
1 
6 
18 

2 
2 
4 
9 

1 
1 

'5 

1 
1 

'e 

2" 

3 

324 
246 
98 
469 

Total  

117 

276 

308 

197 

112 

61 

29 

17 

7 

8 

5 

1,137 

a  Including  one  family  having  an  additional  half-room . 


The  following  extract  is  from  Table  IV  of  the  May  Bulletin  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Labor, 
showing  method  of  compilation  of  data  on  household  conditions  of  Negroes  ;  giving  the  con 
dition  of  each  family  in  detail.  The  complete  table  includes  1,137  families. 

EXTRACT  FROM  TABLE  IV.  — HOUSEHOLD  CONDITIONS,  BY  FAMILIES. 

ATLANTA,  GA.-16  GROUPS. 

GROUP  1. 

[O.  H.  indicates  that  the  family  own  the  house  in  which  they  live.] 


Family 
No. 

Persons. 

Rooms. 

Monthly 
rent. 

Family 
No. 

Persons. 

Rooms. 

Monthly 
rent. 

Male.  Female. 

Sleep 
ing. 

Other. 

Male. 

Female. 

Sleep 
ing. 

Other. 

1 

2                2 
3                1 
1                1 
1                1 
2                3 
1                2 
1                 2 
2                1 
5                 5 
1                 1 

2 
1 
1 

1 
4 

2 

2 

4 
4 
2 

1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
5 
3 
3 

$3  00 
3.00 
4.00 
4.00 
10  00 
8.30 
0.  H. 
0.  H. 
0    H. 
0.  H. 

11  
12  
13  
14  

4 
1 
1 
2 
1 
3 
2 
3 
2 

1 

2 
3 
3 
1 
2 
2 
4 
5 

3 
3 
2 
2 
1 
3 
2 
3 
3 

3 
3 
2 
1 
3 
3 
1 
2 
3 

$13.50 
13.80 
6.40 
6.40 
0.  H. 
0.  H. 
10.00 
O.  H. 
0.  H. 

2.... 
3  
4........ 
ry 

15  

6  

7  
8.... 
9  
10  

16 

17  
18  

19  

The  following  extract  is  from  Table  V  of  same  report  showing  same  data  by  groups, 
complete  tables  see  above-mentioned  report. 

EXTRACT  FROM  TABLE  V.— HOUSEHOLD  CONDITIONS,  BY  GROUPS. 
ATLANTA,  GA.— 16  GROUPS. 


For 


Group 
num 
ber. 

Fami 
lies. 

Persons. 

Rooms  . 

Families. 

Average 
monthly 
rent  per 
family. 

Male. 

Fe 
male. 

Sleeping. 

Other. 

Own 
ing 
house. 

Paying 
rent. 

Not  re 
porting 
as  to 
rent. 

Num 
ber. 

Average 
persons 
to  each. 

Num 
ber. 

Average 
persons 
to  each. 

1  . 
2  
3.     ... 
4. 
5.       .. 
6. 
7.       .. 
8.        .. 
9. 
10.       .. 
11.    . 
12  
13  
14  
15  
16     .... 

19 
27 
19 
15 
25 
17 
18 
24 
26 
21 
21 
24 
20 
16 
16 
16 

38 
52 
31 
25 
37 
36 
36 
35 
50 
44 
48 
39 
42 
14 
32 
25 

42 
58 
43 
35 
49 
39 
36 
58 
54 
44 
51 
50 
41 
35 
35 
38 

45 
49 
30 
23 
46 
35 
40 
41 
59 
38 
42 
30 
37 
19 
25 
22 

1.78 
2.24 
2.47 
2.61 
1.87 
2.14 
1  80 
2.27 
1.76 
2.32 
2.36 
2.97 
2.24 
2.58 
2.68 
2.86 

41 
41 
21 
4 
38 
9 
25 
18 
42 
10 
23 
3 
10 
2 
13 
6 

1.85 
2.07 
2.57 
3.25 
1.89 
3  67 
2  40 
3.50 
2.21 
3.20 
3.65 
3.00 
3.30 
2.00 
3.62 
3.33 

8 
16 
4 

"'10' 

11 

"  9' 
6 

7 

11 
10 
15 
15 
15 
17 
7 
24 
16 
15 
14 
24 
19 
16 
16 
15 

'i 

$7.49 
5.10 
4.60 
3.27 
4.50 
3.29 
5.04 
5.83 
5.85 
4.00 
3.32 
2.59 
4.79 
2.55 
3.63 
3.70 

""dl 

1 



1 

Total. 

324 

584 

708 

581 

2.22 

306 

2.54 

73 

249 

62 

14.25 

a  Rent  free. 


b  I  ncluding  one  family  living  rent  free. 


The  following  extract  is  from  Table  VI  of  same  report   showing  in  detail  occupation  ami 
earnings  by  families  for  the  1,137  families  covered  by  the  investigation. 

EXTRACT  FROM  TABLE  VI.— OCCUPATIONS  AND     EARNINGS,  BY  FAMILIES. 

ATLANTA,  GA.— 16  GROUPS. 

GROUP  1. 


Fam 
ily 

No. 

Head  of  family. 

House 
wife. 

Children. 

Occupation. 

Aver-     How  sub- 
Weeks     age          sis  ted 
em-     weekly       when 
pl'yed.    earn-'       mie  til 
ings,        ployed. 

At 
work. 

work       ingg        At        At 

aud     forthesch'ol.h'me. 
rear, 
school.    ' 

1     . 
2   ... 
3... 

4 

Seamstress  (a)  
Bricklayer  

a  16 

50 
26 

50 
£24 
rt44 
52 
52 
52 
52 
52 
52 
52 
52 
52 
52 

49 
52 

a  .$4.  00 
12.00 
6.0J 

5.00 
b  7.00 
d  3.50 
5.00 
10.00 
10  00 
23.00 
12.50 
20  00 
5.00 
5.00 
11.00 
30J.OO 

8.00 
41  66 

Savings..  . 
Savings... 
Savings...  . 

Savings... 

'     l" 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 

1 

2        $258 

.'!!!.'.'!       2 

Employee,     printing 
office. 

1  

5  ... 
6.... 
7   ... 
8.... 
9.... 
10.... 
11.... 
12  .... 
13  ... 
14  ... 

Merchant,  wood  (£).. 
Tailor  (d) 

ei 

i 

'/2 

6-40 

('  •) 

., 

"  i    '.'.'.'.'.'. 

.......:::::: 

'"3    \...^.. 

J       cl 
2 

Coachman  

'      f  594 

Waiter  
Teacher,  private  sch'l 
Physician  
Clergyman  
Dentist  
Waiter.                

1 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 

j          1        '     10 

i  

Waiter        .     . 

3 

1      
3      
2           z'2 

15.... 

16.... 

17... 
18.... 
19  .... 

Wheelwright  
Hack  owner  and  cap 
italist. 
Porter  
Bishop  A  M  E   Ch 

(1  1 

c  1 
c  1 

rj  132 

c  130 
1     .      261 
i    <:364 

Savings... 

1 

1 
1 
1 

Proprietor,       restau 
rant  (h\ 

h  12 

//  17.00 

a  Also  employed  36  weeks  as  sick  nurse,  no  pay.     e  Not  reported. 

b  Also  employed  28  weeks  as  waiter  at  .$10  per    /  Wife  and  child, 
week.  g  Wife. 

c  Mother.  h  Also  employed  40  weeks  as  bank  porter  at 

d  Also  employed  8  weeks  as  hotel  waiter  at      $10  per  week. 
$3.50  per  week.  /  Child  and  mother. 


The  following  is  a  valuable  summary  as  showing  the  industrial  position  of  women. 
TABLE  7.— NUMBER  OF  FAMILIES  AND  MEANS  OF  SUPPORT. 


By  whom  supported. 

Atlanta, 
Ga.,  16 
groups. 

Nash 
ville, 
Tenn.,  10 
groups 

Cam 
bridge, 
Mass.,  1 
group. 

Other 
cities,   32 
groups. 

Total 
families. 

Head  male 

73 

60 

40 

131 

304 

Head,  male,  and  male  children  

10 

14 

4 

15 

43 

Head,  male,  and  female  children 

4 

3 

8 

16 

Head,  male,  and  male  and  female  children  
Head,  female. 

7 
31 

4 

13 

4 

8 
41 

19 
89 

Head,  female,  and  male  children  
Head,  female,  and  female  children  .     
Head,  female,  and  male  and  female  children  
Heads,  male  and  female  
Heads,  male  and  female,  and  male  children  
Heads,  male  and  female,  and  female  children...  . 
Heads,  male  and  female,  and  male  and  female 
children 

11 
10 

12 
84 
12 
5 

4 

7 
4 
g 
51 
19 

2 

3 

1 
1 
22 
1 

\ 

11 
16 
5 
98 
19 
19 

18 

32 

31 
23 
255 
51 
31 

25 

Head,  male,  and  others 

18 

21 

g 

24 

72 

Head,  female,  and  others  

22 

8 

2 

23 

55 

Heads,  male  and  female,  and  others  
Others,  male 

14 
1 

15 

8 
1 

21 
4 

58 
13 

Others,  female  ... 

6 

6 

8 

20 

Total  

324 

246 

98 

469 

1,137 

TABLE  8.— NUMBER  AND  PERCENT  OF  PERSONS  SICK  DURING  THE  YEAR. 


Name  of  ailment. 

Atlanta,  Ga., 
16  groups. 

Nashville,      Cambridge, 
Tenn.,              Mass., 
10  groups.         1  group. 

Other  cities, 
32  groups. 

Total. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 
cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 
cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 
cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

'  Per 
cent. 

O.S4 

2.88 

3.72 

Consumption  
Pneumonia  

Total 

2 
20 

22 

0  45 
4.53 

5 
14 

1.07 
2.99 

"'4' 

'3  74' 
3.74 

7 
10 

17 

1.08 
1.54 

14 

48 

62 

i    4.98 

19 

4.06 

4 

2  62 

.93' 

'3 

'^46 

Convulsions  
Total  

Typhoid  fever  
j-carlet  fever  
Malarial  fever 

2 

.45 

1 

6 

.36 

2 

10 
2 

50 

.45 

5 
1 
43 
6 
5 

60 

1.07 
.21 
9.19 
1.28 
1.07 

1 

5 

1 
3 

10 

.93 

3 

.46 
^31 

30.09 
.31 

6 

22 
3 
289 
11 
6 

.36 

T32 

.18 
17.36 
.66 
.36 

2.27 
.45 
11.31 

4.68 

"93" 
2.81 
.93 

2 

"  195 
2 

Diarrhea  .... 

Diphtheria  
Total  

62     14  03 

12  82 

9.35 
.... 

199 

30.71 
.31  ' 

331 

19.88 

Svphilis  

"  .& 

2 
16 

.43 

3.42 

"  Y 

2 
21 

.12 

1  26 

Scrofula 

Total 

3         .68 

18 

3.85 

s:,.'.is 

2 

.31 
65.90 

23 

1.38 
74  66 

Other  ailments  
Grand  total  

353     79  86 

371 

79  27          92 

427 
648 

1,243 

442   100.00 

468 

100.00         107 

I 

100.00 

100.00 

1,665 

100  00 

TABLE   9.— NUMBER  AND   PER  CENT  -OF    DEATHS   DURING  PAST  FIVE  YEARS, 

BY  CAUSES. 


Causes. 

Atlanta,  Ga., 
16  groups. 

Nashville,       Cambridge, 
Tenn.,               Mass., 
10  groups.         1  group. 

Other  cities, 
32  groups. 

Total  deaths. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

8 
8 

Per 
cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Consumption  
Pneumonia 

17 
23 

9.34 
12.64 

32 

7 

24.06 
5.26 

29.32 

15.38 
15.38 

35 
19 

12.77 
6.94 

92 

57 

14.35 

8.89 

23.24 

3.43 
2.65 
4.53 

Total  

Cholera  infantum  
Convulsions  
Still-births  

40 

21.98 

39 

16 

| 

3 
10 

30.76 

54 

10 
9 
10 

19.71 

3.65 

3.28 
3.65 

149 

22~ 
17 

29 

7 
3 
4 

3.84 
1.65 
2.20 

4 

2 
5 

3.01 
1.50 
3.76 

1.92 

5.77 
19.23 

Total  

Typhoid  fever  
Scarlet  fever  
Malarial  fever......   
Diarrhea                             .... 

14 
5 

'3 
2 
4 

7.69 

11 
3 
'? 

8.27 
2.26 
5".26 

14 
2~ 

26.92 

29 

4 
2 
15 

10.58 

68 

14 
2 
25 
2 
4 

10.61 

2.19 
.31 
3.90 
.31 
.62 

2.74 

165 
1.10 
2.20 

3.85 

1.46 
.73 

5.47 

Diphtheria  . 

Total  
Syphilis.. 

14 

7.69 
1.65 

10 

'"2 

7.52 
1.51 

2 
'"2 

3.85 

21 
'     1 

7.66 
.37 

47 

'"s 

7.33 
'  1.25 

3 

3M 

Scrofula  

Total                   ..   . 

3 

1.65 

2 

1.51 
53.38 
100.00 

2 

3.85 

1 

.37 

8 

1.25 

Other  causes  

111 

182 

60.99 

71 

18 
52 

34.62 
100.00 

169 
274 

bl.68 

369 

57.57 
100.00 

Grand  total  

100.00 

133 

100.00 

641 

NOTE  :— The  following  table  is  very  instructive,  but  deductions  from  it  should  be  made  with 
great  care.  It  is  intended  to  show  the  effects  of  sanitary  conditions  upon  the  health  of  the  com 
munity,  but  the  results  obtained  are  not  conclusive,  for  the  increased  amount  of  sickness  in 
families  living  under  unfavorable  sanitary  conditions  can  not  be  attributed  entirely  to  such  con 
ditions,  as  a  certain  proportion  of  it  must  be  attributed  to  the  more  irregular  habits  of  life  of 
those  families  which  are  content  to  live  under  such  unfavorable  conditions.  The  same  incom- 
petency  which  prevents  a  family  from  making  material  progress  and  securing  for  itself  good 
accommodations  also  prevents  its  resisting  disease.  "We  generally  find  ill  health  and  poverty 
together,  one  the  cause  of  the  other,  but  quite  as  often  both  the  result  of  a  common  cause,  such 
as  intemperance,  immorality,  ignorance,  or  some  moral  or  intellectual  weakness. 

TABLE  10.— SICKNESS,  BY  SANITARY  CONDITION  OF  HOUSES. 
ATLANTA,  GA.— 16  GROUPS. 


Sanitary  condition  of  houses. 

Number 
of 
persons. 

Persons  sick  dur 
ing  year. 

Days  of  sickness. 

Number. 

Per  cent. 

Persons 
report 
ing. 

Total. 

Average  . 

Light  and  air: 
Good 

577 
348 
367 

537 
328 
427 

426 
527 
339 

439 

264 
589 

163 
126 
120 

153 
102 
154 

122 
177 
110 

122 
80 
207 

28  25 
36.21 
32.70 

28  49 
31.10 
36.07 

28.64 
33.59 
32.45 

27.79 
30.30 
35.14 

128 
104 
102 

124 

77 
133 

97 
141 

96 

103 
61 

170 

5,819 
6,268 
4,361 

5.927 
4,471 
6,050 

5,259 
5,588 
5,601 

4,941 
2,676 
8,831 

45.46 
60.27 
42.75 

47.80 
5SO6 
45.49 

54.22 
39.63 
58.34 

47.97 
43.87 
51  95 

Fair 

Bad  

Ventilation  : 
Good  .   .          

Fair  

Bad  

Cleanliness  : 
Good         

Fair      .                                             .     . 

Bad        

Outside  sanitary  condition  : 
Good  

Fair 

Bad        

NASHVILLE,  TENN.-10  GROUPS. 


Light  and  air  : 
Good                .  .                     

489 

194 

39  67 

99 

3  284 

33  17 

Fair  

404 

172 

42  57 

114 

3,734 

32  75 

Bad  

197 

76 

38  58 

46 

1  414 

30  74 

Ventilation  : 
Good         ... 

471 

181 

38  43 

92 

3  346 

36  37 

Fair  

290 

106 

36  55 

61 

2,103 

34  48 

Bad  

329 

155 

47  11 

106 

2,983 

28  14 

Cleanliness  : 
Good  
Fair                         

381 
345 

144 
131 

37.80 
37  97 

73 

79 

2,078 
3026 

28.47 
38  30 

Bad  

364 

167 

45  88 

107 

3328 

31  10 

Outside  sanitary  condition  : 
Good         .     .            

413 

158 

38  26 

86 

2,879 

33  48 

Fair 

452 

191 

42  26 

116 

3,929 

33  87 

Bad  

225 

93 

41  33 

57 

1,624 

28.49 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS.-l  GROUP. 


Light  and  air  : 
Good 

159 

29 

18  24 

25 

1,214 

48  56 

Fair                              

173 

47 

27  17 

39 

1,623 

41.62 

Bad  ... 

34 

6 

17  65 

6 

492 

82  00 

Ventilation  : 
Good  

133 

28 

21  05 

26 

1,073 

41  27 

Fair  

102 

19 

18.63 

16 

1,162 

72  63 

Bad  

131 

35 

26  72 

28 

1,094 

39.07 

Cleanliness  : 
Good            

80 

14 

17  50 

12 

697 

58  08 

Fair  

225 

57 

25  33 

48 

2  129 

44  35 

Bad           

61 

11 

18  03 

10 

503 

50.30 

Outside  sanitary  condition: 
Good  .             

116 

29 

25.00 

27 

988 

36.59 

Fair  

78 

11 

14  10 

11 

819 

74  45 

Bad 

172 

42 

24  42 

32 

1,522 

47  56 

OTHER  CITIES-29  GROUPS. 

[Three  groups  and  three  families  are  not  included,  as  sanitary  condition  of  houses  was  not 
reported.] 


Sanitary  condition  of  houses. 

Number 
of 
persons. 

Persons  sick    dur 
ing  year. 

Days  of  sickness. 

Number. 

Per  cent. 

Persons 
report 
ing. 

Total. 

Average. 

Light  and  air: 
Good    
Fair  

1,081 
547 
308 

1,087 
536 
313 

1,127 
483 
326 

919 

689 
328 

246 
211 
114 

271 
180 
120 

257 
192 
122 

230 
215 
126 

22.76 
38.57 
37.01 

24.93 
33.58 
38.34 

22.80 
39.75 
37.42 

25.03 
31.20 
38.41 

173 
143 
86 

194 
116 
W 

171 
132 
99 

165 
147 
90 

7,861 
4,566 
4,450 

8,849 
3,577 
4,451 

6,458 
5,000 
5,419 

5,638 
7,141 
4,098 

45.44 
31.93 
51.74 

45.61 
30.84 
48.38 

3777 

3788 
54.74 

34.17 

48.58 
45.53 

Bad 

Ventilation  : 
Good    
Fair 

Bad             

Cleanliness  : 
Good         ....            ....                   .... 

Fair 

Bad        

Outside  sanitary  condition  : 
Good  

Fair 

Bad 

TABLE  11.— SANITARY  CONDITION  OF  HOUSES. 
ATLANTA,  GA.-16  GROUPS. 


Group  number. 

Number  of  houses  having— 

Ligl 
Good. 

it  and 
Fair. 

air. 
Bad. 

Ventilation. 

Cleanliness. 

Outside   sanitary 
condition. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Bad. 

Good. 

Fair. 

Bad. 

Good.  Fair. 

Bad. 

1 

14 

1 

1 
1 

"7' 
17 

"5" 
"9 

14 

7 

15 
5 

14 

17 
9 

"5" 

"is" 
1 
21 
1 
17 
5 

"4" 
"'3' 

1 
4 
5 
15 
12 

io 

1 
5 
1 
4 

"i 
s" 

"i" 

1 

••y 

17 
"4" 

'l2' 

is 

18 
5 
15 
4 

14 

15 
9 
6 
9 

'"i" 

18 
5 
11 
6 
3 

'"i" 

1 
6 
2 

4 
12 

'is' 
10 
2 
10 
7 
4 
6 
4 
13 
9 

'  1 
4 
5 
3 
17 

14 

18 
9 

"16 

1 
4 
3 

6 

15 
3 
3 

1 
7 
6 
3 
4 

"'3' 
15 
2 
17 

11 
1 

9 

'  U 
15 
12 
15 
15 

130 

2  

20 

9 

.     1 
5 
15 
12 

3   
4 

5  
6  

5 

m 

15 
1 
22 
4 
18 
5 
3 
1 

'  "3" 

9 
"5 

3 

8 
15 
...„, 

8  

4 

2 
3 

12 
9 
12 
2 
5 

1 

18 
8 
11 

1 

9  

10  

11  

12 

13  
14 

15  

16  

Total 

120 

80 

82 

112 

73 

97 

98 

105 

79 

96 

56 

NASHVILLE,  TENN.-10  GROUPS. 


1    

14 

4 

5 

17 

3 

3 

g 

7 

g 

11 

9 

3 

2  
3 

13 

13 

5 

9 

7 
3 

12 
11 

6 
12 

7 
2 

11 
11 

7 
11 

7 
3 

10 
11 

10 
13 

5 
1 

4 

10 

11 

4 

11 

10 

4 

g 

7 

9 

10 

6 

9 

5 

14 

in 

1 

16 

g 

2 

12 

10 

3 

13 

10 

2 

6  

8 

11 

2 

9 

9 

3 

7 

8 

6 

9 

5 

7 

7           

18 

3 

3 

16 

g 

16 

1 

7 

16 

g 

8  

11 

11 

2 

11 

1 

12 

11 

2 

11 

12 

11 

1 

9         

9 

11 

5 

5 

g 

12 

5 

10 

10 

6 

14 

5 

10  

18 

7 

9 

16 

11 

14 

13 

12 

Total        

110 

93 

39 

107 

66 

69 

90 

74 

78 

98 

99 

45 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS.— 1  GROUP. 


Group  number. 

Number  of  houses  having  — 

Light  and  air. 

Ventilation. 

Cleanliness. 

Outside  sanitary 
condition. 

Go'd. 

Fair.  Bad. 

Go'd. 

Fair. 

Bad 

Go'd. 

Fair. 

Bad. 

Go'd. 

Fair. 

Bad. 

1           

43 

46         8 

37 

29 

31 

25 

56 

16 

30 

21 

46 

OTHER  CITIES— 32  GROUPS. 


1.                            

8 

8 

7 

1 

4 

4 

2     . 

4 

6 

3 

4 

4 

1 

4 

4 

3   

7 

8 

2 

6 

8 

3 

9 

1 

8 

9 

4       

18 

18 

17 

1 

17 

1 

5 

26 

1 

27 

27 

27 

6  

10 
1 

2 
9 

1 

8 

4 
9 

1 
1 

11 

1 
9 

1 
1 

11 
3 

1 
1 

1 

6 

8.    . 
9  
10 

6 
11 

5 
4 
6 

6 
1 

8 
6 
g 

3 
9 

6 
1 

8 
10 
1 

7 
4 
4 

2 
2 
1 

11 

4 

5 
10 
6 

1 

2 

11  
12 

4 
14 

15 

4 

5 
1 

3 

12 
16 

5 

13 
14 

6 
5 

5 

13 
13 

6 
6 

5 

13  
14 

4 
15 

2 

A 

15 

2 

4 
15 

2 

4 

15 

2 

15  

8 

6 

2 

10 

4 

9 

9 

4 

3 

7 

8 

1 

16 

2 

2 

2 

0 

2 

2 

3 

1 

18  

8 
4 

5 

3 

10 
3 

4 
1 

2 

5 

8 
3 

3 
1 

5 

2 

4 

1 

7 
1 

19  

3 

j 

4 

.... 

3 

1 

2 

2 

20  
21         

1 

3 
13 

1 

5 

4 

13 

i 

1 

4 

2 
8 

2 
6 

3 

1 
13 

1 
5 

22 

13 

2 

13 

2 

13 

2 

13 

2 

23  
24  

9 
6 
11 

4 
13 
4 

2 

i 

9 
18 
10 

5 

3 
1 
1 

12 
14 
12 

2 

4 

1 
5 

10 
3 

3 
19 
13 

2 

26   

a  2 

<>2 

a4 

a  3 

a  1 

«4 

a4 

a2 

tt2 

ffll 

a  7 

('«) 

27  

(a) 

«4 

a  17 

ol 

«3 

a  17 

a  4 

a8 

a9 

(a) 

(a) 

;,  21 

28                     

10 

1 

2 

11 

2 

12 

1 

12 

i 

29 

8 

1 

1 

8 

2 

3 

6 

1 

3 

5 

2 

30            

(b) 

(b) 

(b) 

(b) 

(6) 

(&) 

(6) 

(b) 

(b) 

(b) 

(&) 

(/,) 

31 

(l)\ 

(b) 

(b) 

(ft) 

(6) 

(6) 

(6) 

(b) 

(b') 

(b) 

(b) 

(M 

32         

(b) 

(b) 

(b) 

(b) 

(/>) 

(b) 

(b) 

(b) 

(b) 

(6) 

(b) 

(6) 

Total  

c214 

cl!6 

c59 

c220 

clOS 

c61 

c235 

clOl 

c  53 

c!83 

c!45 

06! 

a  Xot  including  one  house,  not  reported. 

b  Not  reported. 

c  See  preceding  notes. 


Appendix:-  -B. 


A  compilation  of  data  from  the  health  reports  of  various  cities,  made  by  Mr.  L.  M.  Her- 
shaw,  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  an  alumnus  of  Atlanta  University,  follows,  and  it  is  believed  that 
they  afford  very  accurate  information  concerning  the  deaths,  etc.,  in  the  cities  for  which  the 
necessary  official  reports  were  available. 

Mr.  Hershaw's  work  included  the  cities  of  Atlanta,  Baltimore,  Charleston,  Memphis  and 
Richmond.  We  print  in  full  the  tables  for  Atlanta,  one  table  for  Charleston  and  one  for  Balti 
more:  for  lack  of  space  we  omit  other  tables.  For  explanation  of  these  tables  see  paper  by  Mr. 
Hershaw,  page  10. 

This  work  is  to  be  continued  by  Mr.  Hershaw  during  the  coining  year. 


TABLE  a.— AVERAGE  ANNUAL  DEATH  RATE  PER  1,000  AND  EXCESS   AND   PER  CENT 
OF  EXCESS  OF  COLORED  FOR  THREE  PERIODS  OF  YE  \RS,  BY  CITIES. 


City. 

First   period. 

Second  period. 

Third 

period. 

W'  ite. 

Col 
ored. 

Excess  of 
colored. 

W'ite. 

Col 
ored. 

Excess  of 
colored. 

W  ite. 

Col 
ored. 

Excess  of 
colored. 

No. 

Per 

cent. 

No. 

Per1 
cent. 

No.       Per 
!  cent. 

Atlanta  
Baltimore.  .. 
Charleston  .  . 
Memphis  ... 
Richmond.... 

is.  22 

22.60 
25  40 
26.08 
22  42 

37.96 
3(5  15 
44  08 
43.01 

40.34 

19.74 
13  5", 
18.68 
16.93 
17.92 

10«  41 
59.92 
73  52 
64.95 
79.98 

19  25 
19  46 
22.30 
21.49 
21.37 

33  41 

30.52 
46.74 
29.35 
38.83 

14.16 
11  06 
24.44 
7.86 
17.46 

73.51 
56.87 
109.63 
36.59 
81.74 

18.03 
20  01 
21.88 
14.17 
18.42 

32.76 
31.47 
41  43 
21.11 
34.91 

14.73     81.65 
11.46     57.24 
19.55     89.39 
6  94  !  48.95 
16.49     89.54 

TABLE  b.— POPULATION,  DEATHS,  AND  DEATH  RATE  PER  1,000,  ATLANTA,  GA., 

1882  TO   1895. 


Year 

Population. 

Total  deaths. 

Deaths  per  1,000. 

White. 

Colored. 

White. 

Colored. 

White. 

Colored. 

Excess  of  colored. 

No. 

Per  cent. 

1882 

23,689 
25,034 
26,511 

28,075 

18,202 
19.217 
20,289 
21,420 

19,782 

392 
500 
497 
492 

630 
735 
785 
854 

16.58 
19.97 

18.75 
17.52 

34  61 
38.25 
38.69 
39.87 

18.03 
18.28 
19  94 
22.35 

198.75 
91.54 
106.35 
127.57 

1883  
1884  

1885  
Average  

25,815 

470 

751 

18.22 

37.96 

19.74 

108.41 

1886  
1887  
1888  
1889 
1890  

Average  

29,732 
31.486 
33,344 
35,311 
37,416 

22,615 
23,876 
25,207 
26,613 
28,098 

446 

680 
646 
653 
793 

541 
815 
886 
949 
1,032 

15.10 
21.60 
19.37 
18.49 
21.19 

23.92 
34.13 
35.15 
35.66 
36  73 

8.82 
12.53 
15.78 
17.17 
15.54 

58.41 

58.01 
81.47 
92.86 
73  34 

33,458 

25,282 

644 

845 

19.25 

33.41 

14  16 

73.51 

1891  

39,623 
41,961 
44,437 
47,058 
49,835 

29,665 
31,319 
33,066 
34,910 
36,857 

827 
805 
813 
691 
884 

1,167 
1,085 
1,107 
947 
1,126 

20.87 
19.18 
18  30 
14.68 
17.74 

39.34 
34  64 
33.48 
27.13 
30.55 

18.47 
15.46 
15  18 
12.45 
12  81 

88.50 
80  60 
82.95 
84  81 
72.21 

1892  
1893   .. 
1894  
1895         

Average  

44,583 

33,163 

804 

1,086 

18  03 

32  76 

14.73 

81  65 

11 


TABLE  c.  -DEATHS  AND  DEATH  RATE    PER    1,000   OF   TOTAL    POPULATION   OF  CHIL 
DREN  UNDER  5  YEARS  OF  AGE,  ATLANTA,  GA.,  1882  TO  1895. 


Year. 

Total  deaths. 

Deaths  per  1,000. 

White.    Colored. 

White. 

Colored. 

Excess  of  colored. 

Number. 

Per  cent. 

1882  

163 
194 
163 
167 

264 
339 
319 
329 

6.90 
7.75 
6.15 
5.95 

14.50 
17.64 
15.72 
15.36 

7.60 
9.89 
9  57 
9.41 

110.15 
127  61 
155  61 
158.15 

1883      .    .   . 

1884         

1885     

Average  

172 

313 

6.65 

15.81 

9.16 

137.74 

1886... 

160 
264 
206 
205 
287 

257 
332 
337 
364 
451 

5.38 
8.38 
6.18 
5.81 
7.67 

11.36 
13.91 
13.37 
13.68 
16.05 

5.98 
5.53 
7.19 
7.87 
8.38 

111.15 
165.99 
116.34 
135.46 
109.26 

1887     

1888  

1889 

1890  

Average  

224 

348 

6.71 

13.77            7.06 

105.22 

104.05 
95.59 
125.31 

87.47 
96  39 

1891 

264 
276 
251 
218 
276 

403 
403 
421 
303 
401 

6.66 
6.58 
5.65 
4.63 
5.54 

13.59            693 
12.87            6.29 
12.73            7.08 
8.68            4.05 
10.88            5.34 

1892     

1893  

1894  
1895  ...    .   ...'.'.'. 

Average  .           

257 

386 

5.76 

11.65            5.89    j        102.26 

TABLE    d.— AVERAGE   ANNUAL    DEATH   RATE    PER   10,000,    ATLANTA,   GA.,  FOR  THE 
PERIODS  1882  TO  1885,  1886  TO  1890,  1891  TO  1895,  BY  CAUSES. 


Causes. 

1882  to  1885. 

1886  to  1890. 

1891  to  1895. 

W'ite. 

Col 
ored. 

Excess  of 
colored. 

W'te. 

Col 
ored. 

Excess  of 
colored. 

W'te. 

Col 
ored. 

Excess  of 
colored  . 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 
cent. 

Consumption... 
Pneumonia  

Total  

Cholera    infan- 
tum  
Still-births  

Total  

Typhoid  fever  .  . 
Scarlet  fever.  .  . 
Malarial  fever.. 
Diphtheria  

Total  
Other  causes  .  .  . 
Grand  total 

18.40 
9.03 

50.20 
26.69 

31.80 
17.66 

172.83 
195.57 

18.83 
11  30 

45.88 
26.26 

27.05 
14.96 

143.65 
132.39 

16.82 
11.66 

43.48J  26.66 
32.27  20.61 

158.50 
176.76 

27.43 

(a) 
(«) 

76.89 

-     __        _.  _•_  • 

(«) 

(a) 

49.46 

(a) 

(«) 

180.31 

(a) 
(a) 

30.13 

12.43 
14.35 

72.14 

23.10 
32.99 

42  01 

10  67 
18.64 

139.43 

85.84 
129.90 

28.48 

7.63 
17  36 

75.75  47.27 

165  98 

15.26     7.63|      100.00 
38.60J  21  24|      122.36 

(a) 

8~64 
.31 
.97 
1.66 

(a) 

17.09 
.15 
1.92 
.15 

(a) 

8  45 
b    .16 
.95 
61  51 

(a) 

26.78 

10.70 
1.25 
1.61 
1.02 

56.09 

29.31   109.45 

24  99 

7.31 
1.61 
.45 
1.35 

53  86 

28.87 

115.53 

97.80 
b  106.67 
97.94 
61,006.67 

11.07 
.32 

5.46 
32 

.37;      3.46 
6  .93J6290.63 
3.85  239.13 
b  .706218.75 

9.83 
12 
2.17 
.36 

2.52 
61  49 
1.72 
b  .99 

34  47 
61,241.67 
882.22 
6275.00 

11.58 
c  143.15 
182.16 

19.31 
r>283.44 
379.64 

7.73 
c  140.  29 
197.48 

66.75J  14  58 
c  98.  00  121.  05 
108.41192.64 

17.17     2.59 
188.67  67.62 

17.76 
55.86 
73  51 

10.72 
116.15 
180.34 

12.48 
185.50 
327.59 

1.76 

16.42 

69.35 
147.25 

59  71 
81.65 

334.07 

141.53 

a  Included  in  "Other  causes." 

b  Excess  of  white. 

c   Including  deaths  from  cholera  infantum  and  still-births. 


TABLE  e  —  AVERAGE  ANNUAL   DEATH    RATE    PER    10,000,  CHARLESTON,   S.   C.,  FOR 
THE  PERIODS  1881  TO  1884,  1885  TO  1889,  AND  1890  TO  1894,  BY  CAUSES. 


Causes. 

1881  to  1884. 

1885  to  1889. 

1890  to  1894. 

W'ite 

Col 
ored. 

Excess  of 
colored. 

W'ite 

Col- 
ored. 

Excess  of 
colored. 

W'ite 

Col 
ored 

Excess  of 
colored. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 

cent. 

Num-      Per 
ber.'j  cent. 

Consumption  . 
Pneumonia    .  . 

Total  

Cholera  infan- 
tum 

27.52 

8.18 

72.20 
19.00 

44.68 
10.82 

162  35 
132.27 

20.05 
8  32 

68.08 
18.51 

48  03 
10.19 

239.55 
122.48 

17.71 

6.78 

57.66 
17.06 

39.95 
10.28 

225.58 
161.62 

35.70 

91.20 

55.50 

155.46 

28.37 

86.59 

58.22 

7.53 
9.53 

205  22 

24.49 

74.72 

50.23 

205  10 

(tt) 
(a) 

(a) 

(a) 

(a) 
(a) 

(a) 
(a) 

7.90 
3.48 

15.43 
13.01 

95.32 

273.85 

7.20 
4.30 

9.63 
13.60 

2.43 
9.30 

33.75 
216.28 

Convulsions.  .  . 
Total  

Typhoid  fever 
Malarial  fever 
Diarrhea  
Diphtheria  ..  . 

Total  

Scrofula  
Syphilis  

Total  
Other  causes  .  . 
Grand  total 

(a) 

(a) 

(a) 

(a) 

11.38 

28.44 

17.06 

149.91 

69.98 
136.86 
113.63 
c  251.24 

11.50 

4.38 
3.06 
3.56 
.83 

23.23 

6.68 
6.23 
9.38 
.25 

11.73 

102.00 

8.83 
6.22 
b  4.78 
6.96 

11  36 
6.50 
b  11  72 
2.59 

2.53 
.28 
b  6.94 
c  4.37 

28.65,      4.93 
4.50       2.55 
6145.1JW      5  43 
C168.73J      4.25 

8.38 
6.04 
11.60 
1.21 

3.45 
3.49 
6.17 
C3.04 

2.30 
3.17 

5.82 
c  .58 

52.51 
103.59 
163.48 
c  232.00 

d26.79 

rf32.17 

(15.3* 

d20.08     17.16 

6883.33        ~4~S 
384.09         .59 

27.23 

10.07 

6.55 
5  51 

58.68 

11.83 

22.54 

2.14 
3.15 

10.71 

T98 
2.32 

90.53 

]  2:57.  no 

279.52 

b     .30 
.44 

&2.95 
2.13 

b  2.65 
1.69 

6.98 
6.10 

1,523.26 
933.90 

.16 
.83 

e.74 

e  5.08 

e  4.34 

"586.49 
/63.70] 

1.02 

13.08 

12.06 

1182.35 
89.09 

.99 
169.96 

5.29 

4.30 
118.59 
195.56 

434  34 

69.78 

f  190.  81 

312.36 

f  121.  55 

li  >:•.().'! 

312.05 

47  02 

288.55 

254  04 

440.81 

186.77 

73.52 

222.96 

167.39 

244.43 

109.63 

218.77 

114.33 

89.39 

a  Included  in  "Other  causes." 

b  Not  including  deaths  in  1884. 

c  Excess  of  white. 

d  Not  including  deaths  from  diarrhea  in  1884. 

c  Not  including  deaths  from  scrofula  in  1884. 

f  Including  deaths  from  cholera  infantum  and  convulsions,and  from  diarrhoea  and  scrofula 


in  1884. 


13 


The  table  following  shows  for  each  of  the  ten  years  from  1884  to  1893  the  total  and  the  illegiti  - 
mate  births  and  the  birth  rate  per  1,000  of  total  population  of  both  white  and  colored  ;  also  the 
average  births  and  birth  rates  per  1,000  for  the  two  five-year  periods  1884  to  1888  and  1889  to  1893 : 

TABLE   f.— TOTAL  AND  ILLEGITIMATE  BIRTHS  AND  BIRTH  RATE  PER  1,000  OF  TOTAL 
POPULATION,  BALTIMORE,  MD.,  1884  TO  1893. 


Year. 

Total  births. 

Births  per  1,000. 

Illegitimate 
births. 

Illegitimate  births  per  1000. 

W'ite. 

Col 
ored. 

W'ite. 

Col 
ored. 

Excess  of 
white. 

W'ite. 

Col 
ored. 

W'ite. 

0.40 
.35 
.31 
.43 
.39 

Col 
ored. 

2.94 
2.84 
2  52 
3.56 
3.42 

Excess  of 
colored. 

Num 
ber 

Per 

cent. 

Num 
ber. 

Per 
cent. 

635  0 
711.4 
712  9 
727.9 
776.9 

1884  .  . 
1885  
1886  
1887  
1888  

Average 

6,899 
6,63-' 
6,481 
7,765 
7,500 

1,136 
1,108 
1,213 
1,262 
1,225 

22.18 
20.74 
19.72 
22.98 
21.59 

19.31       287 
18.41       2  33 
19.70         .02 
20.04  1    2.94 
19.04       2.55 

14.86 
12  .  66 
.10 
14  67 
13.39 

124 
112 
103 
146 
134 

173 
171 
155 
224 

•   220 

2  54 
2.49 
2  21 
3.13 
3.03 

7,055      1.189 

21.45 

19.31 

2.14 

11.09         124 

189 

.38 

3.06 

2.68 

714.6 

1889      .     . 

8,102 
8,226 
8,238 
8,087 
7,914 

8,113 

1,263 
1,172 
1.101 
1,347 
1,221 

22.69     19.19 
22.41  ,  17.47 
21.83     16.04 
20.84     19.18 
19.84     17.00 

3.50 
4  94 
5.79 
1.66 

2.84 

18.24         156 
28.28         180 
36.10         224 
8.65         261 
16.71         224 

205 
229 
246 
359 
387 

.44 

.49 
.59 
.67 

.56 

3.12 
3.41 
3.58 
5.11 
5.39 

2.  (18 
2.92 
2.99 
4.44 
4.83 

3.60 

609.1 
595.9 
506.8 
662  7 
862.5 

650.4 

1890  

1891  
1892  
1893         . 

Average 

1,221 

21.48     17.76 

3.72 

20.93        209 

285 

.55  I    4.15 

Of  total  births,  the  excess  of  births  per  1,000  of  population  is  seen  to  be  in  favor  of  the 
whites.  For  the  first  five-year  period  this  excess  is  2.14,  the  percentage  of  excess  being  11.09; 
for  the  second  five-year  period  the  excess  is  3.72,  the  percentage  of  excess  being  20.93. 

The  illegitimate  births  for  the  colored  population  show  a  very  Jarge  excess  over  the  illegiti 
mate  births  for  the  white.  While  there  is  an  increase  in  the  excess  of  colored  birth  rate  from 
2.68  in  the  first  five-year  period  to  3.60  in  the  second,  the  per  cent  of  excess  shows  a  decrease 
from  714.6  in  the  first  period  to  650.4  in  the  second. 


14 


1     RETURN    CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

202  Main  Library 


LOAN  PERIOD  1 
HOME  USE 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

Renewals  and  Recharges  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  the  due  date. 

Books  may  be  Renewed  by  calling        642-3405 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


JHM  1  n  2nm 

AU  fvj    UiOU. 

RECEIVED 

0°i  /  A  b  Jo^ 

NOV  u  ±  b  ^ 

FEB  0  1  1--3 

/ 

.iHCUL-ATIQM 

CIRCULATION  DEP1 

AHR29U&3 

Uto  13  1933 

rJUN  1  2  3R 

:     i 

,aR13'93 

»(,•(;  HiSfFlT'f  >EP  ^0  y 

j 

JN  1  »  1993 

f&  OJ  S 

i      -n,14^ 

—  »•  «»^'* 

-'  'M  0  1  iPflp 

FORM  NO.  DD6 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


